• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.328-329
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• 2000

This research is to estimate population parameters of the Korean horse mackerel stock and to determine the status of the stock. Considering the linkage of recruitment with the variation of environmental conditions in the early life history, acceptable biological catch (ABC) of horse mackerel was estimated. (omitted)

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.445-451
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• 2012

We developed an age-based spawner-recruit model incorporating environmental variables to forecast stock biomass and recruits of pelagic fish in this study. We applied the model to the Tsushima stock of jack mackerel, which is shared by Korea and Japan. The stock biomass of jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) around Korean waters ranged from 141 thousand metric tons (mt) and 728 thousand mt and recruits ranged from 27 thousand mt to 283 thousand mt. We hind-casted the stock biomass to evaluate the model performance and robustness for the period of 1987~2009. It was found that the model has been useful to forecast stock biomass and recruits for the period of the lifespan of fish species. The model is also capable of forecasting the long-term period, assuming a certain climatic regime.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.942-953
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• 2020

Achieving optimal sustainable yields (i.e., avoiding overfishing and maximizing fishery harvest at the same time) is one of the main objectives in fisheries management. Generally, management reference points (MRPs) such as fishing mortalities (Fmsy, F0.1, Fx%) have been suggested for the purpose. In this study, we intended to suggest MRPs for Korea chub mackerel Scomber japonicus stock, using a stochastic catch-at-age model (SCAA) and evaluate whether the current fishing intensity on the stock is appropriate. We used length frequency and catch-per-unit-effort data on the Korea chub mackerel stock collected from the large purse-seine fishery, and yields landed by all fisheries from years 2000 - 2019. We calculated yield per recruit and spawning potential ratio, and projected spawning stock biomass (SSB) under different fishing mortality, assuming annual recruitments were solely controlled by environmental effects (i.e., steepness of 1.0). Some of our major findings and suggestions were that the overfishing threshold would be F46%; i.e., the fishing mortality in the terminal year, 2019 was 0.257/year, which corresponded to F46%.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.139-152
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• 2021

The main purpose of this study is to fit catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data about Korea chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) stock with a state-space production (SSP) model, and to provide stock assessment results. We chose a surplus production model for the chub mackerel data, namely annual yield and CPUE. Then we employed a state-space layer for a production model to consider two sources of variability arising from unmodelled factors (process error) and noise in the data (observation error). We implemented the model via script software ADMB-RE because it reduces the computational cost of high-dimensional integration and provides Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling, which is required for Bayesian approaches. To stabilize the numerical optimization, we considered prior distributions for model parameters. Applying the SSP model to data collected from commercial fisheries from 1999 to 2017, we estimated model parameters and management references, as well as uncertainties for the estimates. We also applied various production models and showed parameter estimates and goodness of fit statistics to compare the model performance. This study presents two significant findings. First, we concluded that the stock has been overexploited in terms of harvest rate from 1999 to 2017. Second, we suggest a SSP model for the smallest goodness of fit statistics among several production models, especially for fitting CPUE data with fluctuations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2016

It is essential to provide good environment for juvenile fish to grow and spawn in order to keep reproduction mechanism of fisheries resources. However, harvesting juvenile fish deprives adult fish of the opportunity to reproduce, thereby changing self-regulating renewable resources into non-renewable ones and preventing sustainable harvesting as well as reducing fishers' income. We reviewed the catch status of Korea on juvenile mackerel and analyzed how reducing the catch ratio of juvenile mackerel may affect the spawning stock and Korean fishermen's revenue. In addition, we analyzed the problem of caching juvenile mackerel in Korean fisheries and current efforts to protect and reduce the catch ratio of juvenile mackerel in Korea. Furthermore, we suggested future efforts to protect juvenile mackerel. The result of the study showed that reducing the catch ratio of juvenile mackerel from 44.4% to 30.0% would increase fishers' revenue by 60.6 billion KRW. We suggest the changing of purse seine fishery's catching methods from night operation to day operation, relocation of fishing vessels to move to other fishing grounds when fishing vessels meet high density of juvenile mackerel, and consumers' clever choice of consuming adult mackerel in order to accelerate the move toward protecting juvenile mackerel in Korea.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.771-804
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• 2010

This paper estimates optimal production of fish stock using discrete time bio-economic model to make zero profits or to maximize economic profits with maintaining sustainable resource levels under an open access and a sole owner. Particularly, this study generates optimal yields and efforts of large purse seine fisheries which catch mackerel and jack mackerel by using the logistic growth function, Cobb-Douglas production function, fisheries cost and profit functions. As a result, optimal yields of mackerel and jack mackerel under ecological equilibrium of a sole owner were approximately 172,512 tons and 16,937 tons respectively. Also, optimal fishing efforts of mackerel and jack mackerel under the same situation were about 8,508 hauls and 4,915 hauls respectively. In conclusion, the paper suggests that the large purse seine should reduce fishing efforts and increase fish stock to generate higher net present value in optimally managed fishery than that of the present large purse seine.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.277-306
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• 2019

Mackerel is one of the most widely consumed aquatic products in Korea. Concerns about the depletion of stocks have also arisen as the catch has decreased. The primary purpose of this study is to estimate the mackerel stock and derive the optimal level of catch in Korea. We apply a generalized maximum entropy econometric method to estimate the mackerel growth function, which does not require the steady state assumption. We incorporate a bootstrapping approach to derive the significance levels of parameter estimates. We found that the average ratio of catch to the estimated total stock was less than 30% before the 1990s but exceeded 40% in the 1990s. After 2000, it dropped back to about 36%. This finding indicates that mackerel may have been over-fished in the 1990s, but the government regulations introduced in the 2000s alleviated over-fishing problems. Nevertheless, our dynamic optimization analysis suggests that the total allowable catch may need to be carefully controlled to achieve socially optimal management of resources.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.719-724
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• 2019

This study is an extension of our previous model for a size-based fish stock assessment. In the previous model, we applied an allometric length-weight relationship (W=α·L^β) to convert lengths of fish to weights, and estimated those parameters α and β, using data about lengths and weights aggregated over years. In this study, we focused on whether consideration of temporal (e.g., year-to-year) variability in those estimates (i.e., ${\hat{\alpha}}$ and ${\hat{\beta}}$) would contributive. After calculating year-specific estimates (i.e., year-specific pairs of ${\hat{\alpha}}$ and ${\hat{\beta}}$) by applying data about lengths and weights separated by year, we evaluated the contribution of those year-specific pairs of ${\hat{\alpha}}$ and ${\hat{\beta}}$ to the performance of the size-based stock assessment model. The model with such year-to-year variability being considered (lower AIC) outperformed that with the variability being ignored (higher AIC). We illustrated this study using data on Korean chub mackerel Scomber japonicus from 2005-2017.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.760-767
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• 2015

First annulus formation and age determination of otoliths were examined for chub mackerel Scomber japonicus collected in Korean waters over the one year from January to December in 2009. Translucent zone was regarded as an annual mark. Age interpretation criteria was based on the data of the number of translucent zone, capture date, and edge type of the otolith, assuming the nominal birthday to be 1 January. Monthly changes in mean marginal index indicated that translucent zone was formed once a year, mainly in June. The otolith of 0-ring group was detected comparing the progression by month of the smaller fish length, appearing to be a single first opaque zone. The average distance from the core to the first translucent zone was ~1.77 mm, provided as supplementary information to increase ageing accuracy. The ageing criteria for chub mackerel was made to determine correct year-class with the purpose of effective stock assessment. This method using nominal birthdate and edge type analysis could estimate age of fish closer to the true age than purely counting the number of translucent zone on a whole otolith.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.313-320
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• 2018

Chub mackerel Scomber japonicus is an economically important pelagic species in the western North Pacific. In the last 50 years, the annual total catch in Korean waters showed large fluctuations, ranging from 100 to $420{\times}10^3tons$. To provide a biological reference point for management of chub mackerel, we applied a simulation-based yield-per-recruit (Y/R) model that considered both temperature-dependent growth and size-dependent mortality. We estimated the fisheries yield with respect to varying biological reference points and environmental conditions, including 1) the instantaneous rate of fishing mortality (F), 2) length of fish at first capture ($L_c$), and 3) water temperature. The result of our analysis showed that the Y/R could be greatest when the $L_c$ ranges from 19-27 cm and F ranges from $1.48-2.00yr^{-1}$. Y/R increases with increased water temperature between 15 and $23^{\circ}C$. We suggest targeting an $L_c$ of 17 cm (age=0.6 years) under the assumed current of $F=0.48yr^{-1}$ for maximizing the chub mackerel harvest. Further analysis considering spawning and recruitment processes are required to provide biological reference points to ensure the sustainability of chub mackerel fisheries in Korean waters.