• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2000

The relationship between the distribution of demersal fishes and that of the water masses was examined by using the catches data and hydrographic data in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea on May 13-19, 1996 and May 10-17, 1997. During the study period, the dominant fish species were Cleisthenes pinetorum herzinsteini, Lophiomus setigerus and Pseudosciaena polyactis. These three low temperature water species accounted for $21-24\%$ of the total catches. The percentage of the low temperature water species was high in the Yellow Sea and the coastal area on the continental shelf of the East China Sea but was low in the vincinity of Kyushu during the study period. In the East China Sea, the isotherm of $15^{\circ}C$ at 50m, mid layer depth, was located more southeast in 1996 than in 1997. The bottom water temperature was about it lower in 1996 than in 1997. The direction of the detided current on the continental shelf of the East China Sea was southward in 1996 and northward in 1997. Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW) strongly expanded to south in 1996 when the northward current was weak. But, Tsushima Warm Current (TSWC) strongly intruded into the continental shelf of the East China Sea in 1997. As YSBCW expanded strongly to south in 1996, the percentage of the low temperature water species relative to the total catches was high. But, TSWC strongly intruded and the percentage of low temperature water fishes was low in 1997.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.23-38
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• 2007

Based on a time series of ocean climate indices and catch records for seven pelagic fish species in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Kuroshio-Oyashio Current (KOC) regions from 1910 to 2004, we detected regional synchrony in the long-term fluctuations of the fish populations and identified alternation patterns of dominant species related to climate shifts. The annual catches of Pacific herring, Japanese sardines, Japanese anchovies, jack mackerel, chub mackerel, Pacific saury and common squid in the TWC region fluctuated in phase with those in the KOC region, which suggests that they were controlled by the same basin-wide climate forcing. After the collapse of the herring fishery, the alternation sequence was: sardines (1930s), Pacific saury, jack mackerel, common squid and anchovies ($1950s{\sim}1960s$), herring ($late\;1960s{\sim}early\;1970s$), chub mackerel (1970s) and then sardines (1980s). As sardine biomass decreased in the late stages of the cool regime, catch of the other four species increased immediately during the warm period of the 1990s. Regional differences in the amplitude of long-term catch fluctuations for the seven pelagic fishes could be explained by regional differences in availability, fishing techniques and activity.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.437-449
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• 1991

Time series of barometrically adjusted sea level at Pusan, Izuhara and Hakada are analyzed to study the fluctuations of the Tsushima Current through the Korea Strait. Variability of sea levels and their differences is divided into two parts with respect to the frequency of 0.01 or 0.02 cycles per day(cpd) At lower frequency, both of sea levels and sea level difference(SLD) are coherent and in phase to each other. Pusan has smaller seasonal variations in sea level than other two stations because the effects of geostrophic current and prevailing wind have a negative influence on the seasonal thermosteric contribution to sea level change. Low frequency variability of SLD thus of the Tsushima Current is much greater in the western channel. For higher frequency parts, SLD in the eastern channel has larger variability and is not coherent with that of the western channel. Sea levels at Pusan and Izuhara are $180^{\circ}$ out of phase with SLD in the western and eastern channel respectively, whereas the Hakada level is in phase. This result indicates that eastern channel has a normal response to the along-channel winds and cross-channel geostrophy because Izuhara faces the eastern channel.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.239-252
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• 1981

The East China Sea is an important region as nursery and spawning grounds for pelagic fishes such as jack mackerel, common mackerel etc. , and thus constitutes a major fishing area for purse-seine fishery. The environment surrounding in this region is under the influence of the Yellow Sea Cold Water, China Coastal Water and Kuroshio Current. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of oceanographic conditions and thermal fronts on the formation of the fishing grounds for the mackerels in the East China Sea. Through the analyses of fisheries statistics during 1968-1976 and temperature data, the following facts are found: 1) Approximately $70\%$ of the total mackerel(common) catches appeared to be come from the Tsushima Current region which includes Sakai coast of the Japan Sea, eastern Tsushima and Shirase Island, and Jeju Island of Korea. This area covers only about $8\%$ of the East China Sea. 2) Main fishing grounds for the jack mackerel are also centered around the area of southwestern Goto, Shirase and eastern Tsushima Island where the catches accounted for about $54\%$ of the total jack mackerel catches. 3) Fluctuations in annual catches are relatively small in the Tsushima Current region, compared to other regions such as Yellow Sea, southwestern coast of Kyushu and mid-western part of the East China Sea, where the fisheries yields varied considerably due to unstable fishing conditions. 4) It appears that the fishing grounds for the jack mackerel are mainly distributed along the warmer region ($15-20^{\circ}C$) of the thermal front, and those for the common mackerel are in somewhat colder region ($13-16^{\circ}C$) in the Tsushima Current.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.285-289
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• 2004

Oceanographic observation and qualitative analysis for deep ocean water in the East Sea were carried out from January 2003 to January 2004, in order to understand the characteristics of deep sea water in the East Sea. Temporal and spatial variation of water masses were discussed from survey of the study area including the coastal sea of Kwangwon province in where the polar front mixing cold and warm water masses were formed. On the basis of the vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen, water masses in the study area were divided into 5 major groups; (1) Low Saline Surface Water (LSSW) (2) Tsushima Surface water (TSW) (3) Tsushima Middle Water (TMW) (4) North Korea Cold Water (NKCW) and (5) East Sea Proper Water (ESPW). In winter, surface water in coastal sea of Kwangwaan Kosung region were dominated by North Korean Cold Water (NKCW). As Tsushima warm current were enforced in summer, various water masses were vertically emerged in study area, in order of TSW, TMW, NKCW and ESPW. It is highly possible that the LSSW which occurred at surface water of september is originated from influx of fresh water due to the seasonal rainy spell. Nevertheless water masses existed within surface water were seasonally varied, water quality characteristics of East Sea Proper Water (ESPW) under 300 m did not changed all the seasons of the year.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.733-753
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• 1994

Monthly mean sea levels from 103 tidal stations in Korea, Japan, and Russia are analyzed to study long-period sea level variations. Barometric adjustment are done for all the sea level data, using monthly air pressures at sea levels from meteorological stations near tidal stations. Seasonal variation is dominant in most of study area. It is the largest in the coasts along the Tsushima Current, and the smallest in the Russian coasts. The cross-correlations of seasonal variations are very high between the coasts along the Tsushima Current. In these marginal seas, seasonal variations seem to be related with the Tsushima Current. The phase of seasonal variations is generally getting late from south to north, and also from west to east. On the other hand, longer-period variations(longer than seasonal variation) have the largest amplitudes and the earliest phases in the coasts along the Pacific Ocean, which shows that they propagate from the Pacific Ocean. Shorter-period variations (shorter than seasonal variation) have generally lower cross correlations. Their values do not show any dictinct difference between areas, and show a common tendency that they are inversely proportional to distance. It implies that the shorter period waves are generated all over the study areas, and propagate in all the directions with faster dissipations. The trends of sea levels in the study area are generally negative in the coasts along the Pacific Ocean and positive in the other areas during the period of 1965 to 1985. By the trends, the mean volume transport between Cheju and Sasebo can be reduced by about 1 Sv during the period. The seasonal variation of volume transport obtained by sea level difference is about 2 Sv in the Korea Strait. The values are comparable to previous reports.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.331-340
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• 1988

Using the oceanographic data during 196s~ 1983, the seasonal variation of the water type in the Tsushima Current is discussed by analyzing the thermosteric anomaly $(\delta_T)$. By investigating with the index of $33.8\%_{\circ}$ in salinity, it is shown that the low saline water inflowed through the Korea Strait affects the variations of water type in surface layer from summer to fall. On the sea surface, the value of $\delta_T$ is affected mainly by the sea surface temperature (SST). However, in summer, $\delta_T$ is temporarily influenced by the transitional characteristic of the surface salinity. It has the minimum value in winter when the SST is the highest and the sea surface salinity is the lowest. In fall, it decreases as the SST decreases. Specifically, the value of $\delta_T$ is 779 cl/t in August in the region of Korea Strait and 667 cl/t in September in the East Coast of Korea. These values are larger than that of the Kuroshio where is 622 cl/t in August. This phenomenon is due to the inflow of low saline water into these area during summer. In loom depth, the seasonal variation of the $\delta_T$ is not so significant as the surface and is mainly dependent on the annual temperature variation. In general, $\delta_T$ decreases as the Tsushima Current flows to the north.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 1998

Fish larvae and environmental variables were collected in the sea around Cheju Island of Korea in November, 1986. Fish larvae were found at the 43 of 44 stations. Abundance of fish larvae rangεd from 3 to 259 indiv./$10^3\;m^3$ (average 50 indiv./$10^3\;m^3$) Dominant species were Engraulis japonicus, Champsodon snyderi, Gobiidae, Sebastiscus marmoratus, and Synagrops philippinensis, which comprised 56.6% of total fish larvae abundance. 43 stations were c1assified into two groups by c1uster analysis based on the abundance of fish taxa. Most stations of Group I were located in the middle reach of Tsushima Current and had higher number of species and abundance than the sites of Group II which cover the marginal areas of Tsushima Current, Korean Coastal Waters, and coastal water of China. The dominant taxa in the sites of the Group I were E. japonicus, Gobiidae, S. philippinensis, Aulops japonicus, Bregmaceros spp., Benthosema pterotum, Lampanctus spp., etc., all of which are typical warm-water species. Therefore, Tsushima Current seems to be the most critical factor regulating the structure of fish larvae community in the study area. The discriminant analysis using the environmenta1 variables (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen) produced result with a difference only of 11.6% from that of c1uster analysis using the taxa composition and abundance data. Consequently, the structural type of fish larvae community can be used for predicting the changes of environmental conditions in the study area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 1983

This paper describes the variations of the distribution of dissolved oxygen in the Japan Sea in summer during 1974-1977. In the Tsushima Current region of the Japan Sea the salinity maxima appears frequently in summer and the dissolved oxygen at the salinity maximum is less than that in the Japan Sea Proper Water. The Japan Sea is divided into three parts with respect to the type of vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen: The southern region of about $35^{\circ}N$ which has low dissolved oxygen similar to those in the Kuroshio region, the Japan Sea Proper Water region, and the area between about $36^{\circ}N$ and $40^{\circ}N$ which has high dissolved oxygen. The ranges of the dissolved oxygen and thermosteric anomaly(${\delta}_T$) at the salinity maximum are roughly between 4.9 and 6.5 m/l and between 210 and 240 cl/t respectively. The most frequent ranges of those values are between 5.5 and 5.7 ml/l and between 230 and 240 cl/t. The northern boundary of the Tsushima Current can be known by the characteristics of the distribuion of dissolved oxygen.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.618-623
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• 1999

A relationship between SST (Sea Surface Temperature) fronts and formation of fishing grounds was examined using the data on fishing conditions obtained from 41 Korean purse-seiners during the period of 1991 to 1996. Good fishing grounds observed in the southern sea of Korea and the nothern area of the East China Sea were yearly found around the frontal zone and around the marginal area of Tsushima Current which was the periphery of fronts, Also, there were several fishing grounds, which are not related to the fronts. They can be classified into the following four types : The first type was found in the warm water pocket located in the western area of Cheju Island in winter. The second type was made in a intensive bending of isobathytherm with a higher temperature in the main stream of Tsushima Current between Cheju Island and the Goto Islands in winter. The third type was formed by the topographical vortex motion near the Tsushima Island in winter and spring. The fourth type was found at the area of the reflow Sea Warm Current in southwest sea of Korea between the costal front zone and the Yellow Bottom Cold Waters in summer and autumn.