• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.779-793
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• 2023

Intensive and long-term aquaculture activities in Korea have generated considerable amounts of organic matter, deteriorating the sedimentary environment and ecosystem. The Korean government enacted the Fishery Management Act to preserve and manage the environment of fish farms. Based on this, a fisheries environment assessment has been conducted on fish cage farms since 2014, necessitating the development of a scientific and objective evaluation method suitable for the domestic environment. Therefore, a benthic health index (BHI) was developed using the relationship between benthic polychaete communities and organic matter, a major source of pollution in fish farms. In this study, the development process and calculation method of the BHI have been introduced. The BHI was calculated by classifying 225 species of polychaetes appearing in domestic coastal and aquaculture areas into four groups by linking the concentration gradient of the total organic carbon in the sediment and the distributional characteristics of each species and assigning differential weights to each group. Using BHI, the benthic fauna communities were assigned to one of the four ecological classes (Grade 1: Normal, Grade 2: Slightly polluted, Grade 3: Moderately polluted, and Grade 4: Heavily polluted). The application of the developed index in the field enabled effective evaluation of the Korean environment, being relatively more accurate and less affected by the season compared with the existing evaluation methods like the diversity index or AZTI's Marine Biotic Index developed overseas. In addition, using BHI will be useful in the environmental management of fish farms, as the environment can be graded in quantified figures.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.153-170
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• 1970

1. Isolation and identification of amylase-producing bacteria. The powerful strain A-12 and S-8 were respectively isolated from air and soil after screening a large number of amylase-producing bacteria. Their bacterial characteristics have been investigated and it has been found that all characteristics of strain A-12 and S-8 are similar to Bac. subtilis of Bergey's manual except for the acid formation from a few carbohydrates and the citrate utilization, i.e., the strain A-12 shows negative in the citrate utilization, and the acid formation from arabinose and xylose, S-8 shows negative in the acid formation from xylose. 2. Amylase production by Liquid cultures with solid materials. Several conditions for amylase production by strain A-12 in stationary cultures have been studied. The results obtained are as follows. (1) The optimum conditions are:temperature $35^{\circ}C$, initial pH 6.5 to 7.0 and incubation time 3 to 4 days. (2) The amylase production is not affected by the preservation period of the stock cultures. (3) Among the various solid material, the defatted soy bean is found to be the best for t1e amylase production. However, the alkali treatment of the defatted soy bean gives no effect contrary to the cage of defatted rape seed. The addition of soluble starch to the alkali extract of defatted soy bean shows the increased amylase production. (4) Up to 1% addition of ethanol to carbon dificient media gives the improved amylase production, whereas the above effect is not found in the case of carbon rich media. (5) The amylase production can be increased 2.5 times when 10% of defatted soy bean is admixed to cheaply available wheat bran. (6) The excellent effect is found for amylase production when 20% of wheat bran is admixed to defatted dry milk which is a poor medium. The activity is found to be $D^{40^{\circ}}_{30'}$ 7,000(L.S.V. 1,800) in 10% medium. (7) No significant effect is observed due to the addition of various inorganic salts. 3. Amylase production by solid cultures. Several conditions for amylase production by strain A-12 in wheat bran cultures have been studied and the results obtained are as follows. (1) The optimum conditions: are temperature $33^{\circ}C$, incubation lime 2 days, water content added 150 to 175% and the thickness of the medium 1.5cm, The activity is found to be $D^{40^{\circ}}_{30'}$ 36,000(L.S.V. 15,000) (2) No significant effect is found in the case of the additions of various organic and inorganic substances.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.943-953
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate sediment recovery after the relocation of fish cage farms, by examining the changes in sediments and the benthic polychaete community. A preliminary survey was carried out in October 2017, before the relocation of the farms, and monthly surveys were conducted from November 2017 to October 2018 after the farms were moved. Subsequently, it was conducted every 2-3 months until October 2020. The survey was carried out at three stations (Farm1-3) at the location of the removed fish farms and at three control stations (Con1-3) without farms. The overall organic carbon content of the farm stations was higher than the control stations, but it gradually decreased after the farm was demolished, and there was no statistically significant difference about one year after the relocation of the farms (p<0.05). In the benthic polychaete community, abiotic community appeared at the farm stations in the summer, and consequently, the community transitioned to a low-diversity region with the predominant species Capitella capitata, which is an indicator of pollution. Until the abiotic period in the summer of the next year, the species diversity increased and the proportion of indicator species decreased, showing a tendency of recovering the benthic polychaete community, and these changes were repeated every year. In this study, the abiotic community appeared every year owing to the topographical characteristics, but as the survey progressed, the period of abiotic occurrence became shorter and the process of community recovery progressed expeditiously. Biological recovery of sediments after the relocation of the fish farms is still in progress, and it is imperative to study recovery trends through continuous monitoring.