• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.357-365
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• 2010

This study evaluated current status of marine sand mining and related assessment systems in Korea for supporting effective policy development. The estimated total deposit of sand was ca. 10 billion $m^3$, while the estimated minable amount was ca. 5.5 billion $m^3$, in which marine sand accounted for 21%. The proportion of marine sand to the total mined aggregates has steadily increased by 15% in 1992 to 28% in 2002, but recently slightly decreased. Marine sand mining is regulated under a consultation system on the coastal development according to the "Marine Environmental Management Act". During 2002-2009, a total of 184 million $m^3$ of marine sand was mined, and the annual amount ranged from 17,440,000-33,698,000 $m^3$ the coastal area accounted for 64.5% and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) 35.5%. In the coastal area, the major area supplying the marine sand was Gyeonggi Bay (>62%) followed by some southwestern coastal areas. The South and the West EEZ explained 23.9% and 11.6% of the total mined sand. The extent of marine sand mining in Korea was evaluated to be greater compared with other countries. Large-scale concentrated and repeated sand mining can damage environmental changes and ecology with long-term accumulated impacts.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.205-216
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of large scale marine sand mining on the marine ecological community. For the study, four stations along the coast were selected and monitored in 1998 and 2001 at mining areas and non-mining areas about the Gyeonggi Bay. The result revealed that in 1998, 9 species of fishes, 16 species of crustaceans, and 6 species of mollusks were collected where as in 2001, 11 species of fishes, 5 species of crustaceans, and 2 species of mollusks were collected, uncovering the fact that fishes have diversified while crustaceans and mollusks have reduced on a grand scale. Also, there were two key characteristics regarding the changes of biological communities in mining and nonmining areas. The first was the dwindling of crustaceans inhabiting the sand area. This outcome may be accounted for by the facts that physical removal of seabed sediments and re-sediment due to expansion of floating particles cause direct influence on the ocean floor ecosystem and have continuous effect on the communities of crustaceans which feed on them. Secondly, the newly arrived species and their population during spring and summer seasons have increased in the non-mining areas and have decreased in the mining area. It can be concluded that highly nomadic fish species migrate toward areas with less disturbance or destruction of ecosystem from marine sand mining, and consequently, the communities of fishes change in the sea area. Setting aside the characteristics of the investigated sea areas where the arriving conditions of species vary by seasons, the clear differences of population of organisms in those areas are due to environmental alterations owing to the marine sand mining ; if those large-scale marine sand mining activities continue in the Gyeonggi Bay, their effects on biological communities in the areas will only grow.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.335-345
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• 2010

This paper assessed environmental impacts of marine sand mining on coastal areas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of Korea, and diagnosed problems of the related assessment statements for suggesting key assessment items (scoping) and system improvement. To mitigate conflicts and environmental impacts caused by large-scale, concentrated sand mining, we suggest it is critical to promote sustainable and eco-friendly utilization of marine resources while listening opinions from various stakeholders and analyzing alternative plans. Especially, it should be mandatory as a scoping item to provide verifiable data on the amount of sand, potential and accumulative impacts by mining, and key assessment items (e.g. erosion and sedimentation by submarine topography, benthic change, spreading of suspended solids, water pollution, grain-size change, and impact on fisheries resources). We also suggest that postassessment and monitoring should be improved to enable tracking of environmental impacts caused by sand mining through seasonal monitoring together with intermittent short-term surveys. In addition, effective measures to mitigate the impacts is also essential. As repeated sand mining at large-scale can damage marine ecosystems by long-term accumulated impacts, we suggest that assessment systems and regulatory policies should be developed and established, especially for ensuring reliability of assessment and review on selected major sandmining projects.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.337-350
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• 2010

This study conducted sedimentological and geophysical surveys for 3 years (2006-2008) in southern Gyeonggi Bay, Korea to elucidate temporal changes in subaqueous dune morphology on a sand ridge trending northeast to southwest that has been excavated by marine sand mining. The sand ridge (~20 m in height, ~2 km in width and 3~4 km in length) has a steep slope on the NW side and a gentle slope on the SE side, creating an asymmetric profile. Large (10~100 m in length) and very large (>100 m in length) dunes occurring on the SE side of the ridge show a northeastward asymmetrical shape, whereas dunes on the NW side destroyed by marine sand mining display a southwestward asymmetry. The comparison between Flemming (1988)'s correlation and the height-length correlation of this study indicates that tidal current and availability of sand sediment are major controlling factors to the development and maintenance of dunes. Depth and sedimentary characteristics (grain size) are not likely to be major controlling factors, but indirectly influence dune growth by hydrological and sedimentary processes. The length and the height of dunes decrease toward the southeastern trough away from the crest of the ridge. These features result from the decrease of tidal current and sediment availability. The length and the height of dunes on the southeast side decrease gradually over time. This is a result of the interaction between tidal current and the decrease in sediment availability due to sediment extraction by marine sand mining. Marine sand mining has destroyed the dunes directly, causing irregular shapes of shorter length and lower height. The coarse fraction of suspended sediments is transported and deposited very close to the sand pit. By contrast, relatively fine sediments are transported by the tidal current and deposited over a wide range by the settling-lag effect, resulting in a decrease of sediment grain size in the area where suspended sediments are deposited. In addition, marine sand mining, decreases the height of dunes. Therefore, morphological and sedimentological characteristics of dunes around the sand pits will be significantly changed by future sand mining activities.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.54-54
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• 2017

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.741-751
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• 2012

This article analyzes the interdependency between nonrenewable marine sand resources and renewable fishery resources by the developed dynamic bioeconomic model. The developed bioeconomic model is applied to a case study of efficient sustainable management for marine sand mining, which adversely affects a valuable blue crab fishery and its habitat in Korea. The socially-efficient extraction plan for marine sand and the time-variant environmental external costs to society in terms of diminished harvest rate of blue crab are determined. To take into account long-term effects from destroyed fishery habitat, a Beverton-Holt age structure model is integrated into the bioeconomic model. The illustrative results reveal that the efficient sand extraction plan is dynamically constrained by the stock size of the blue crab fishery over time. Thus, the dynamic environmental external cost is more realistic resource policy option than the classical fixed external cost for determining socially optimal extraction plans. Additionally, the economic value of bottom habitat, which supports the on- and off-site commercial blue crab fishery is estimated. The empirical results are interpreted with emphasis on guidelines for management policy for marine sand mining.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.106-106
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• 2017

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2014

This study aims to examine whether Marine sand mining business is Maritime Traffic Safety Audit and priority between Maritime Traffic Safety Audit and Sea Area Utilization Impact Assessment because development and action to use in the ocean is ambiguous, it is overlapped with system of environmental aspect, and priority is not designated. Therefore, the way to improve to settle the overlapping problem etc. between Maritime traffic Safety Audit and Sea Area Utilization Impact Assessment was suggested and legal ground for sand mining is suggested. Because management department for Maritime Safety Act and Marine Environment Management Act is Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the solution for this is both embodying co-experts on each committee for determinant of system with maintaining contact and radical revise of law. If revised, the possibility of accident in ocean is decreased, and it can be a way to protect marine environment.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.233-233
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• 2017

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.129-144
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• 2006

Small-scale effects of sand mining on macrobenthic communities have been reported previously. However, little information is available as to how dredging affects the macrobenthic community structure. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of large-scale exhibition dredging on the macrobenthic community of Gyeonggi Bay, Korea, where sand mining has continued for 20 years. Prior to dredging, the macrobenthic species composition was similar to that of areas near the dredging site, with several common dominant species found before dredging. After dredging, the number of species, density, and diversity (H') in the experimental area (sites 0 and 1) decreased significantly, but no difference was observed at other sites. Multivariate analysis (multidimensional scaling) revealed significant differences in community structure before and after dredging. The amphipod Urothoe grimaldii japonica, which was the most dominant species at sites 0,1, and 2, decreased rapidly at sites 0 and 1 after dredging, but no difference was observed at site 2. In addition, the index of multivariate dispersion (IMD) and the relative IMD (r. IMD) were large at sites 0 and 1, suggesting that the effects of dredging were direct at site 0 and 1, but indirect at site 2. The macrobenthic communities at sites 3 and 4 were not affected by dredging, but they were affected by physical conditions and biological interactions. We suggest that benthic biotope indices such as the IMD and r.IMD may constitute a valid tool for assessing the effects of dredging on the macrobenthic community; long-term monitoring is required to verify this.