• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.439-446
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• 2021

Environmental damage caused by marine plastic debris occurs and has become a major contributor to marine pollution. This study analyzed the current state of marine plastic debris pollution and proposed essential strategies to reduce damage. To assess the current state of pollution arising from marine plastic debris, this study investigated the properties of plastic debris, reviewed case studies of ecological impacts, and examined the inflow and distribution of marine plastic debris. The results of this study indicate that the major deleterious effects of marine plastics are entanglement and ingestion. In addition, the amount of plastic waste entering the sea was estimated to be 230 Mt in 2015 and may increase to 554 Mt in 2050. In this study, three key strategies were proposed to reduce damage and preserve the ecosystem, including: 1) removing plastic debris in the marine environment, 2) limiting the release of plastic debris to the marine environment, and 3) preventing damage to humans and marine life from plastic debris. To minimize the environmental damage caused by marine plastic debris, the proposed response strategies should be implemented in parallel.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.306-315
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• 2005

The distribution and composition of marine floating debris were recorded from a training ship 'Kyeongyang' of Gangwon Provincial University at May 19-29, 2004 and Aug.24-31, 2004. The sampled area is the middle part of East Sea of Korea(the coast of Gangwondo and region of Ulleung island and Tokdo), divided into 27 unit segments on survey areas. Debris fabrication materials were categorized with 6 items using the following; styrofoam, paper & cardboard, net & rope, vinyl & plastic, floating metal & glass, man-made or natural wood. From the investigation on May,2004, total numbers of marine floating debris in the middle part of the East Sea of Korea was 996 individuals. The No. 1 and No. 2 unit segment located at south-west region of Ulleung Island showed higher density than others. The styrofoam and vinyl & plastic accounted for 72.8% of all debris fabrication materials. From the investigation on August, 2004, total numbers of marine floating debris in the coast of the Gangwondo of Korea was 2,473 individuals. The No. 13 and No. 14 unit segment located at the vicinity of Samcheok showed higher density than others. The styrofoam and vinyl & plastic amounted to 76.1%. In the coast of the Gangwondo, the vinyl & plastic showed the highest density of 6 items were 41.3% and 68.0% on May and August, respectively. The total numbers of marine floating debris on May and August were 3,399 individuals. Vinyl & plastic accounted for 59.4%(2,019 ind.) among all debris, next styrofoam 15.8%(537 ind.) and wood 11.2%(379 ind.).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.263-273
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• 2015

We estimated the global inflow and stock of plastic marine debris. In South Korea, we estimated that the annual inflow of plastic marine debris (72,956 tons) was about 1.4% of annual plastics consumption (5.2 million tons) in 2012. By applying this 1.4% ratio to global plastics production from 1950 to 2013, we estimated that 4.2 million tons of plastic debris entered the ocean in 2013 and that there is a stock of 86 million tons of plastic marine debris as of the end of 2013, assuming zero outflow. In addition, with a logistic model, if 4% of petroleum is turned into plastics, the final stock of plastic marine debris shall be 199 million tons at the end. As the inflow and the stock are different units of measurement, better indicators to assess the effectiveness of inflow-reducing policies are needed. And, as the pollution from plastic marine debris is almost irreversible, countermeasures to prevent it should be valued more, and stronger preventive measures should be taken under the precautionary principle. As this is a preliminary study based on limited information, further research is needed to clarify the tendency of inflow and stock of plastic marine debris.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2015

Disturbance to marine wildlife is a serious negative impact of marine debris. In this study, the percentages of Black-faced Spoonbill nests that included plastic marine debris were calculated from surveys conducted on an islet named Suhaam off the western coast of South Korea. The percentages of nests including plastic decreased from 71% in 2010 to 37% in 2011 to 33% in 2012. The total number of nests increased from 28 in 2010 to 38 in 2011 to 43 in 2012. These differences in nests and nesting materials were possibly due to natural nesting materials such as tree branches and rice straws that were provided at the breeding site as a protective action in 2011 and 2012. Additional conservation efforts should be made to prevent further negative impacts from marine debris.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.91-98
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• 2000

The present study is the first attempt involving quantification of the different types of debris found on the seabed of Chinhae Bay in the South Sea of Korea. Eleven cruises were undertaken to collect marine debris samples by bottom trawling from February in 1998 to January in 1999. The tows were conducted over a period of 60-90 min, and eight types of debris were counted: plastic, fishing gear, metallic objects, wood, rubber or leather, glass, textile and the others. Results are obtained based on the number and weight of the objects classified as per eight categories and station for a trawling period. The results of this study are that the number and weight of debris found per unit of swept area (1 hectare) were surveyed as 27.8(1,612 in total) and 3,130 g(193,820 g in total), and plastic and fishing gear have the most composition of marine debris by number, on the other hand, metallic objects and fishing gear have the most composition of marine debris by weight.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.125-140
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• 2023

We investigated meiofaunal biofouling (40-1,000 ㎛) on stranded marine plastic debris (hereafter MPD) collected from 8 coastal areas highly affected by plastic pollution located in the southern part of Korea during June, 2021, in order to analyze the abundance and composition of MPD associated organisms. A total of eight shapes of MPD was collected and classified into four types of plastics (LDPE, PET, PP and EPS) based on Resin Identification Coding System. Meiofounal biofouling was identified into 35 taxa belonging to 11 phylum, 10 classes and 12 order, and were numerically dominated by harpacticoids (EPS: 21.6%, PP: 27.1%), nematodes (LDPE: 23.2%) and foraminiferans (PET: 29.6%). Surface area of MPD was negatively correlated with abundances of organisms on the plastic debris (r = -0.487, p < 0.05, n = 24), indicating that abundances (avg. 3,225 inds. 0.1 m^-2) on the smallest area of PP debris (avg. 0.0208 m² ) were higher than those (avg. 50 inds. 0.1 m^-2) on the largest area of LDPE debris (avg. 0.4029 m^-2). Whereas, there was no correlation between surface area of MPD and the number of taxa on the debris (r = 0.147, p = 0.49, n = 24). These results showed that higher abundances of meiofaunal biofouling were observed on the PP material debris than those on the other debris collected from eight hot spots of the southern coastal waters in Korea, associated with not only polymer type and surface area of the PP debris, but also possibly surface microstructure of the PP debris.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.399-411
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• 2020

This study aims to explore how elementary students perceive and approach the issue of plastic debris in marine habitats by examining students' perspectives on the ecosystem and environmental solutions. The study was conducted to 143 Grade Four elementary school students in Seoul. After implementing two class-units on plastic waste, students' constructed responses on the problem of and solutions to plastic debris in marine habitats were collected. Data were analyzed through semantic network analysis and the keywords were visualized to reflect their relationships. Furthermore, students' responses on how they perceive environmental problems were further analyzed based on the following analysis criteria: students' perspectives on the ecosystem, the level of complexity of food chain(s), and the scope of their perspective. Also, student responses on environmental solutions were classified to be either at a personal or social level. Through semantic network analysis, keywords identified for students' perceptions on the problem were the sea, plastic, debris, animals, living things, humans, extinction, while keywords extracted for the solutions were plastic, debris, recycling, disposable, and I. Based on the analysis criteria, it was found that students were well aware of the food chain concept, could perceive the ecosystem as having comprised of both biotic and abiotic factors, and could approach the problem beyond the scope of the marine environment. Also, most students mentioned the solutions only at a personal level. Based on the findings, implications on how to move forward in educating environmental issues related to the ecosystem in science education is further discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2011

A study on the occurrence and movement of marine debris is required for protecting the marine environment and ecosystem from marine pollution. The aim of this study is to show annual production and movement characteristics through analysis for the flow path, composition and the sources of marine debris. This study analyzed the distribution and characteristics of marine debris collected in the region of $100\;m{\times}20\;m$($=2,000\;m^2$) at the Daekwang Beach in the Yellow Sea. During the collection period from 2008 to 2010, the total weight of the marine debris was 1,445 kg in this site. The most marine debris was plastic amounting to 46.5% of the whole collection; the rest were styrofoam(20%) and wooden material(12.6%). The amount of marine debris mused from foreign country observed 155.5 kg, more than 90% of them was plastic came from China such as buoys. Additionally, this study analyzed seasonal change if marine environment to understand occurrence amount change if marine debris. 2009 and 2010 was high occurrence ratio in season that the north wind is very strong and the occurrence rate appeared highest by 40% in the summer(July) of 2008 that appeared westbound tidal current. Overall, marine Debris mused from foreign country was high occurrence ratio in January, May and then November has a lot of quantity secondly. While, occurrence ratio was the highest by 46% summer(July) in 2008, but in 2009 and 2010 showed the lowest rate to 4%.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.426-431
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• 2015

Korea severely suffers from plastic-induced ocean pollution, but only few studies predicted the trajectory of marine plastic debris and provided their collection method. This study used Ocean Surface CURrent Simulator (OSCURS) of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in order to predict the trajectories of marine plastic debris flowing into the East Sea and Yellow Sea for each season during 2004 to 2013. Results suggest that efficient collection hubs through the high betweenness centrality index. Most hubs were located in the seashores regardless of season, suggesting the seashore of Uljin for the East Sea and the seashore between Saemangeum and Shinan for the Yellow Sea as the most efficient hubs.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.152-163
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• 2000

Floating resin pellets including plastics were surveyed from 7 coastal beaches near Young-il Bay during summer and winter season on 1998 ~ 2000 year. Plastic fabrication materials in the survey were founded with 6 items using the following; resin pellets, plastic debris, styrofoams, cigar filters, wood pieces and charcoals. The results deduced in the areas are as follows: 1. The seasonal variability of the all debris is revealed that summer season were remarkably larger than those of winter. This is deduced it is attributed to meteorological effects, e.g, the seasonal wind strength, current vectors and resorts of crowded people for beach enjoy. And the distribution of plastic debris is Pohang Songdo $12.9ea/m^2$, Pohang Bookbu $8.8ea/m^2$, Togoo $4.9ea/m^2$, Chilpo $3.2ea/m^2$, Hwajin $1.4ea/m^2$, Wolpo and Guryongpo $0.8ea/m^2$ respectively. 2. Compared with each beaches, Songdo beach, northern part beach of Pohang city and Togoo beach have higher densities than those of the others. Especially, the highest densities of all debris were discovered in the Songdo beach of Pohang city. 3. The change of density over the whole year was similarly distributed in quantities and fabrication materials. 4. These surveys were founded that the most parts of plastic debris materials were made up with PE and PP.