Sargassum Golden Tides in the Shinan-gun and Jeju Island, Korea

摘要

Sargassum golden tides occurred in Shinan-gun and Jeju Island, Korea, between January and May 2015. In Shinan-gun, 5,180 tons of Sargassum were removed from 3,339 ha of coastline, while 20,000 tons were removed from Jeju Island. The huge floating masses of seaweed caused damage to fisheries in Shinan-gun including abalone sea cage, Pyropia and Saccharina farms off the southwest coast of Korea. Drifting Sargassum also washed ashore on Jeju Island. The species of Sargassum in these golden tides was identified as S. homed (Turner) C. Agardh, based on morphology and molecular data, and it appears to have originated from the East China Sea. This is the first report on Sargassum golden tides causing damage to fisheries in Korea.