Variation of Fisheries Conditions of Fishing Ground of Yellow Croaker (Pseudosciaena polyactis Bleeker) in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea

동중국해와 황해에서의 참조기(Pseudosciaena polyactis Bleeker) 어장의 어황 변동

The study focused on the fluctuation of the fisheries conditions in fishing ground of yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena polyactis Bleeker. A long-term decreasing trend was observed in the accumulated catches of the species since 1926, with increasing-decreasing fluctuation repeating 6 times. Periodicity was observed in 10-year interval in good fishing years, but not in poor fishing years which had irregular fluctuations. From the geographical distribution of the past catch per unit effort, it was presumed that a group of the species seasonally migrated but most of the groups stayed throughout year in the western area off Cheju Island, which was different from the assumptions of the 1970's. The fishing grounds were distributed along the migration route differently by season, throughout the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, but shifted gradually southward and narrowed down to the area of $32^{\circ}N-125^{\circ}E$ off Cheju Island, where the center of fishing grounds was given birth to throughout the year with a relatively high density from autumn to spring. It was noted that a negative correlation was shown between the area of fishing grounds and density distribution of catch.