• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1703-1718
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• 2014

An eco-friendly integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) farming technique was developed with the goal of resolving eutrophication by excess feed and feces as fish-farming by-products. A variety of seaweed species were tried to remove inorganic nutrients produced by fish farming. However, there have been few trials to use Sargassum fulvellum in an IMTA system, a species with a relatively wide distribution across regions with various habitat conditions, great nutrient removal efficiency and importance for human food source and industrial purposes. In this regard, our study tried to examine feasibility of using S. fulvellum in an IMTA system by analyzing growth characteristics of the species in an IMTA system comprising of rockfish (Sebastes shlegeli), sea cucumber (Stichopus japonocus) and the tried S. fulvellum (October 2011 - November 2012). We also monitored environment conditions around the system including current speed, water temperature and inorganic nutrient level as they may affect growth of S. fulvellum. S. fulvellum in the IMTA system, which were $15.72{\pm}5.67mm$ long at the start of the experiment in October 2011, grew to a maximum of $1093{\pm}271.13mm$ by May 2012. In September, seaweed growth was reduced to a minimum of $280{\pm}70.43mm$ in length. Then, S. fulvellum began to grow again reaching $325{\pm}196.19mm$ by November 2012. Wet weight of the seaweed was $4.01{\pm}1.89g$ at the start of the experiment and reached a maximum of $109.26{\pm}34.23g$ in May. The weight gradually declined to a low of $15.12{\pm}8.40g$ in September 2012. Weight began to increase once more, rising to $39.27{\pm}21.69g$ by November. During the experiment, the average velocity at the surface and the bottom was 6.5 cm/s and 3.4 cm/s, respectively. The water temperature ranged $5.0-23.5^{\circ}C$, which was considered suitable for growing S. fulvellum. Results of the study indicated no significant differences in inorganic nutrients between pre- and post-IMTA installation. It was thus concluded that S. fulvellum can be a suitable seaweed species to be used in an IMTA system.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.1444-1458
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• 2016

The expansion of high-density aquaculture in the limited waters has caused a wide variety of problems. The problems include environmental problems nearby aquaculture sites, growth rate of aquatic organisms, quality decline of farmed fish and price fall in the market. The phenomenon of aquaculture industry happens in not only inshore but also offshore. Therefore, the fisheries authorities have been changing their policy paradigms from mass production to sustainable production based on ecosystem. Other countries, however, focusing on relieving poverty and providing protein from fish production have not recognized the degree of seriousness. When it comes to enhancing the problems, National Institute of Fisheries Science has been developing the technology of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) to reduce and to prevent contaminants from fish and aquaculture sites, remained feed from fish farming process. In long-terms of view, the system is one of the most sustainable fishery production methods based on ecosystem. As integration of nutrient feed system from aquatic organisms is firmly established, the earlier mentioned problems will be diminished gradually. In term of the substantiality, this study was conducted. The research on management system for IMTA also has been incorporated. This study also investigated the features and current status of IMTA and demonstrated the developed management system and direction for the future advancement.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.351-357
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• 2012

To determine whether the seaweed Saccharina japonica can effectively utilize dissolved nutrients from Sebastes schlegeli fish cultures, a laboratory experiment was conducted in a static system for 7 days at ESFRI, NFRDI in Korea. The experiment included an S. schlegeli monoculture system and an S. schlegeli-S. japonica IMTA system. Saccharina schlegeli density ($415{\pm}24g$; mean${\pm}$SE) remained the same in all treatments, whereas seaweed density varied across treatments of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kg (control and T1-T4, respectively). During the experiment, nutrient ($NH_4^+$ and $PO_4^{3-}$) concentrations were measured at 24-h intervals. $NH_4^+$ concentration of the control group increased from $0.117{\pm}0.021mg/L$ at the start of experiment to $5.836{\pm}0.904mg/L$ at the end of experiment. $NH_4^+$ concentrations of each treatment were $3.004{\pm}0.040$, $2.086{\pm}0.133$, $1.642{\pm}0.121$ and $0.775{\pm}0.007mg/L$ in T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively, at the end of experiment. The concentration of $PO_4^{3-}$ exhibited a similar trend to $NH_4^+$ concentration. $NH_4^+$ and $PO_4^{3-}$ concentrations significantly decreased with increased S. japonica thallus density each day (P<0.05). The nutrient removal efficiency (NRE) and nutrient uptake rate (NUR) showed different relationships with changes in thallus density; NRE increased but NUR decreased as thallus density increased. Based on measured concentrations of $NH_4^+$ and S. japonica weight, regression analysis defined the relationship between as an exponential function, $Y=3.8165e^{-0.505X}$ ($R^2$ = 0.9552). Our results demonstrated that S. japonica can function as an efficient component in IMTA with environmental and potentially economic benefits for fish hatcheries.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1445-1457
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• 2016

In this study, we investigated the growth of striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), Yesso scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) and kelp (Saccharina japonica) farmed under the IMTA (integrated multi-trophic aquaculture) system developed by national institute of fisheries science (NIFS). The farmed striped mullets grew from an initial length and weight of $152.5{\pm}12.1mm$ and $41.6{\pm}7.8g$ in October 2013 to $154.2{\pm}5.6mm$ and $47.5{\pm}8.6g$ in November, $160.2{\pm}8.7mm$ and $55.9{\pm}9.1g$ in December and $168.4{\pm}9.6mm$ and $58.4{\pm}8.7g$ in January. The fish continued to grow and reached $190.2{\pm}9.4mm$ in length and $87.5{\pm}8.9g$ in weight in April and $256.4{\pm}9.7mm$ and $156.7{\pm}6.7g$ in October 2014. The daily growth rate (DGR) for total fish length was 0.015~0.1 mm/day during the periods of fast growth and attained 0.038~0.1 mm/day during February ~ March. The kelp grew from an initial blade length and wet weight of $1.19{\pm}0.2cm$ and $0.0028{\pm}0.0012g$ in January 2014 to $3.3{\pm}0.8cm$ and $2.5{\pm}0.9g$ in February and $126.5{\pm}11.6cm$ and $107.4{\pm}22.6g$ in March, after which, erosion occurred and slowed the growth. The DGRs for kelp length ranged 0.03~1.9 mm/day in January 2014 and increased to 0.88~1.9 mm/day during March~April. Increasing water temperatures beginning in April lowered the DGR to 0.03 mm/day. Yesso scallops grew from an initial shell length, shell height and wet weight of $11.83{\pm}0.6mm$, $12.68{\pm}0.7mm$ and in September 2013 to $19.9{\pm}2.5mm$, $20.8{\pm}2.6mm$ and $0.9{\pm}0.04g$ in November 2013. They continued to grow to $45.91{\pm}0.71mm$ in shell length, $42.55{\pm}0.8mm$ in shell height and $12.7{\pm}1.3g$ in wet weight by May 2014 and $60.2{\pm}2.51mm$, $554.6{\pm}2.61mm$ and $24{\pm}2.70g$ by October 2014. The DGRs for shell length of Yesso scallop ranged from 0.02 to 0.256 mm/day with higher values of 0.256~0.27 mm/day during November~December 2013 and March~April 2014.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.85-103
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• 2022

Korea is one of the most advanced countries in kelp aquaculture. The brown algae, Undaria pinnatifida and Saccharina japonica are major aquaculture species and have been principally utilized for human food and abalone feed in Korea. This review discusses the diversity, population structure and genomics of kelps. In addition, we have introduced new cultivar development efforts considering climate change, and potential carbon sequestration of kelp aquaculture in Korea. U. pinnatifida showed high diversity within the natural populations but reduced genetic diversity in cultivars. However, very few studies of S. japonica have been conducted in terms of population structure. Since studies on cultivar development began in early 2000s, five U. pinnatifida and one S. japonica varieties have been registered to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). To meet the demands for seaweed biomass in various industries, more cultivars should be developed with specific traits to meet application demands. Additionally, cultivation technologies should be diversified, such as integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and offshore aquaculture, to achieve environmental and economic sustainability. These kelps are anticipated to be important sources of blue carbon in Korea.

• ALGAE
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2014

Palmaria palmata was integrated with Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus on a commercial farm for one year starting in November, with a temperature range of 0.4 to $19.1^{\circ}C$. The seaweed was grown in nine plastic mesh cages (each $1.25m^3$ volume) suspended in a concrete sump tank ($46m^3$) in each of three recirculating systems. Two tanks received effluent water from tanks stocked with halibut, and the third received ambient seawater serving as a control. Thalli were tumbled by continuous aeration, and held under a constant photoperiod of 16 : 8 (L : D). Palmaria stocking density was $2.95kg\;m^{-3}$ initially, increasing to $9.85kg\;m^{-3}$ after a year. Specific growth rate was highest from April to June (8.0 to $9.0^{\circ}C$), 1.1% $d^{-1}$ in the halibut effluent and 0.8% $d^{-1}$ in the control, but declined to zero or less than zero above $14^{\circ}C$. Total tissue nitrogen of Palmaria in effluent water was 4.2 to 4.4% DW from January to October, whereas tissue N in the control system declined to 3.0-3.6% DW from April to October. Tissue carbon was independent of seawater source at 39.9% DW. Estimated tank space required by Palmaria for 50% removal of the nitrogen excreted by 100 t of halibut during winter is about 29,000 to $38,000m^2$, ten times the area required for halibut culture. Fifty percent removal of carbon from the same system requires 7,200 to $9,800m^2$ cultivation area. Integration of P. palmata with Atlantic halibut is feasible below $10^{\circ}C$, but is impractical during summer months due to disintegration of thalli associated with reproductive maturation.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.213-226
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• 2022

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food producing sectors; however, intensive farming techniques of finfish have raised environmental concerns, especially through the release of excessive nutrients into surrounding waters. Biodiversity has been widely shown to enhance ecosystem functions and services, but there has been limited testing or application of this key ecological relationship in aquaculture. This study tested the applicability of the biodiversity-function relationship to integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), asking whether species richness can enhance the efficiency of macroalgal bioremediation of wastewater from finfish aquaculture. Five macroalgal species (Chondrus crispus, Fucus serratus, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra dioica, and Ulva sp.) were cultivated in mono- and polyculture in water originating from a lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) hatchery. Total seaweed biomass production, specific growth rates (SGR), and the removal of ammonium (NH₄⁺), total oxidised nitrogen (TON), and phosphate (PO₄^3-) from the wastewater were measured. Species richness increased total seaweed biomass production by 11% above the average component monoculture, driven by an increase in up to 5% in SGR of fast-growing macroalgal species in polycultures. Macroalgal species richness further enhanced ammonium uptake by 25%, and TON uptake by nearly 10%. Phosphate uptake was not improved by increased species richness. The increased uptake of NH₄⁺ and TON with increased macroalgal species richness suggests the complementary use of different nitrogen forms (NH₄⁺ vs. TON) in macroalgal polycultures. The results demonstrate enhanced bioremediation efficiency by increased macroalgal species richness and show the potential of integrating biodiversity-function research to improve aquaculture sustainability.