• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2012

Time series of ocean climate indices and catch records were used to identify the alternation patterns of pelagic fish populations in relation to climate regime shifts. During 1910-2008, an orderly alternation of dominant pelagic fish groups was observed in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC; Yellow Sea-East China Sea-East Sea/Japan Sea) and Kuroshio-Oyashio Current (KOC; Northwestern Pacific) regions. After the collapse of herring fishery in the late 1920s, the sardine (A group) dominated in the 1930s, 3 other species (C group; Pacific saury, jack mackerel, and anchovy) dominated in the 1950s-1960s, chub mackerel (B group) dominated in the 1970s, and then sardine (A group) dominated again during cool regime in the 1980s. As sardine biomass decreased in association with the climate regime shift that occurred in the late 1980s, catches of C group immediately increased after the regime shift and remained at high levels during warm regime in the 1990s. Alternations of dominant fish groups occurred 6 times between 1910 and 2008. The dominant period of the 7 species lasted for 10-20 years. The catch of Pacific sardine in the TWC and KOC regions showed a negative correlation with the catch of the other 5 species (Pacific herring, anchovy, jack mackerel, Pacific saury, and common squid), suggesting that the abundance of the 5 species is strongly affected by the abundance of Pacific sardine in relation to the climate regime shifts. The total catch level of the 7 species in the KOC region was generally higher than that in the TWC region before 1991 but was lower after 1992, suggesting that the fish populations in the Pacific side are shifted to the TWC region by zonal oscillation of the oceanic conditions in relation to the climate regime shift in the late 1980s.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-42
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• 1993

Based on the Results of Marine Meteorological and Oceanographical Observations during 1966∼1987 and the Ten-day Marine Report during 1970∼1989 by Japan Meteorological Agency, the possible area where the Japan Sea Proper Water (JSPW) can be formed is investigated by analyzing the distribution of water types in the Japan Sea. The Japan Sea can be divided into three subareas of Northern Cold Water(NCW), Polar Front(PF) and Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) by the Polar Front identified by a 6℃ isothermal line at the sea surface in vinter. Mean position of the Polar Front is approximately parallel to the latitude 39∼40。N. The standard deviation of the Polar Front from the mean position of about 130km width is the smallest in the region between 136。E and 138。E where the Polar Front is very stable, because the branches of the Tsushima Current are converging in this region. However, standard deviations are about 180∼250km near the Korean peninsula and the Tsugaru Strait due to greater variability of warm currents. In the NCW area north of 40∼30。N and west of 138。E, the water types of the sea surface to the loom depth are similar to those of the JSPW. This fact indicates that the surface layer of the NCW area is the possible region of the JSPW formation in winter.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2000

To investigate characteristics of water masses and current structures around Noto Peninsula located in south-east coastal region of the East Sea, observation results of CREAMS (Circulations Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas) cruise and data report of oceanographic observation (Japan Meteorological Agency) in June, 1995 and 1996 were used. Water mass showing characteristics of Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) exists over the continental shelf. The depth is shallower than 200m and its width and thickness are 190km and 200m, respectively. Minimum level of dissolved oxygen occurred at the layers of maximum salinity. In the current structure, a noteworthy phenomenon is that the positions of the high-salinity water (more than 34.6 psu) match well with the distributions of the southwestward flow. In June of 1995 and June of 1996, a southwestward flow were separated into two parts along line C and line G. Current directions derived from the temperature and salinity match well with the distributions of the geostrophic currents in the vertical sections. The isothermal lines and the isohaline, which exist horizontally along the coastal area of the Japan, change abruptly at the frontal area of the Noto Peninsula, then turn toward the center of the East Sea. The dynamic depth anomalies centering around the region far northwest of the Noto Peninsula were relatively high, compared to those of other regions. The isopycnic surface (sigma-t, 25.8) existed near the surface in the central part of the East Sea, but, at the depth of 100m, the isopycnic surface was found in the coastal waters.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.335-344
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• 2014

To understand the drift-diffusion of HAB(Harmful Algal Bloom) in this paper, we used three-dimensional hydrodynamic model POM(Pringceton Ocean Model) and Lagrangian particle track module. First, the results of residual flow that considered tide, wind, temperature, salinity, and TWC(Tsushima Warm Current) effect was tend to northeast in the coastal area and the flow in the offshore region showed results similar to TWC. To understand of HAB's movement, released each area that southern Kamak bay(Case 1), Mijo coast(Case 2), and southern Mireukdo coast(Case 3) assumption that red tide occurred. The areas where the HAB occurs frequently. As a result of HAB occurred in southern Kamak Bay(Case 1), mainly drifts to Narodo coast and Yeoja bay that located on the west side. Case 2 was mainly drifts to Yokjido coast and Saryangdo coast Especially, HAB occurred in Mireukdo coast(Case 3) relatively many particles drift to eastward as the influence of the TWC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.339-342
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• 2003

Sea level variations and sea surface circulations inthe Korean seas were observed by Topex/Poseidon altimeter data from 1993 through 1997. In sea level variations, the West and South Sea showed relatively high variations with comparison to the East Sea. Then, the northern and southern area in the West Sea showed the range of 20-30cm and 18-24cm, and the northern west of Jeju island and the southern west of Tsushima island in the South Sea showed the range of 15-20cm and 10-15cm, respectively. High variations in the West Sea was results to the inflow in sea surface of Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and bottom topography. Sea level variations in the South Sea was due to two branch currents (Jeju Warm Current and East Korea Warm Current) originated from Kuroshio Current (KC). In sea surface circulations, there existed remarkably three eddies circulations in the East Sea that are mainly connected with North Korea Cold Current (NKCC), East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and Tushima Warm Current (TWC). Their eddies are caused basically to the influence of currents in sea surface circulations; Cyclone (0.03 cm/sec) in the Wonsan bay on shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/sec) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/set) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.559-572
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• 2021

A survey was conducted to analyze water masses and spatial distributions of phytoplankton communities at 15 stations on the surface and chlorophyll a maximum layers (CML) in the western South Sea of Korea from September 8 to 9, 2021. As a result, water masses were classified into Coastal Waters (CW) with relatively low salinity, the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) with high water temperature and high salinity, and mixed waters (MW) showing a mixture of these two water masses. Turbidity showed high concentration in both the surface and CML. The chlorophyll a concentration was as low as 0.90±0.43 ㎍ L^-1 in the surface, more than 1.1 ㎍ L^-1 in CW, around 1.0 ㎍ L^-1 in MW, and less than 0.5 ㎍ L^-1 in the TWC. CML was 1.64±0.54 ㎍ L^-1. Regarding species composition of phytoplankton communities, there were 57 species in 31 genera(diatoms, 57.8%; dinoflagellates, 35.1%; and other phytoflagellates, 7.1%). The phytoplankton standing crop had 4.6±7.6 cells mL^-1 in the surface, more than 30 cells mL^-1 in the CW, 2-5 cells mL^-1 in the MW, and less than 2 cells mL^-1 in the TWC. CML was slightly higher than the surface with a variation of 5.7±8.4 cells mL^-1. Dominant species were found to be Rhizosolenia flagilissima f. flagilissima, Skeletonema costatum-ls, and Nitzschia sp./ small size in the surface. For the CML Rh. flagilisima f. flagilissima showed a dominance of 12.0%. For the surface, the diversity variation was 2.36±0.40, which was high for TWC but low for MW. For CML, the diversity variation was 2.29±0.52, which was slightly lower than that of the surface. The dominance in the surface was 0.50±0.15, with a fluctuation range of more than 0.5 in MW and less than 0.5 in the TWC, which was different from the diversity. According to correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA), the presence of phytoplankton standing crops was high in CW but low in MW and TWC. That is, phytoplankton communities in early autumn were strongly affected by the expansion and mixing of water masses in western South Sea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.907-916
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to compare community structure of larval fish species in the northern East China Sea during normal meteorological conditions in autumn 2009, during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o period in 2009-2010, and during the La Nina period in 2010. Fifty taxa were recorded during the study period; the most dominant species were Benthosema pterotum and Gobiidae spp. In October 2008 during the normal period, warm water from the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) intruded more into the surface and middle layers, and cold water affected by the Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW) intruded into the bottom layer. In October 2009 during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o period, intrusion of the China Coastal Water (CCW), which has low salinity (<32.2 psu), was more apparent than intrusion of the TWC or YSCW. In October 2010 during the La Nina period, intrusion of the TWC and CCW was relatively weak, resulting in the lowest temperature and highest salinity observed during the study period in the eastern part of the study area. Hierarchical cluster, one-way ANOSIM (analysis of similarities), and SIMPER (similarity-percentages procedure) analyses provided two main results. First, the abundance of the most dominant larval fish species in autumn of the normal period was greater than that in autumn of the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods, resulting in a significant difference in ichthyoplankton community structure between the periods. The abundance of Benthosema pterotum increased in the normal period, possibly influenced by the intrusion of cold water from the YSCW; the abundance of species residing in Korean waters (e.g., Gobiidae spp.) probably decreased during the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods. The second finding was that the abundance of subtropical larval fish in autumn of the normal period was generally larger than that during autumn of the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/La Nina periods. This could have been induced by the stronger intrusion of warm water from the TWC during the normal period. Although differences in oceanographic conditions between El Ni$\tilde{n}$o and La Nina periods were observed, the differences in ichthyoplankton community structure between the two periods were not significant.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1363-1371
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• 2013

In this study, we estimate the interannual spatial and temporal distributions of fishing grounds at night in the East Sea based on satellite and in-situ data. We observe that the $15^{\circ}C$ thermal front moves in the north-south direction according to the movement of the warm water (above $18^{\circ}C$) in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) area, forcing the cold water area (below $10^{\circ}C$) to either expand or shrink. The interannual variations of sea surface temperature (SST) in winter represented by the indicator SST of $6^{\circ}C$ are consistent with the east-west zonal areas in the central East Sea which represented over $1^{\circ}C$ standard deviation of SST in February during 1990-2000. Annual SST in the fishing grounds of common squid fishing vessels, observed both by fishing vessels and satellites range from 9-$22^{\circ}C$, with the satellite-observed data having a larger range than the fishing vessel-based ones. The interannual distributions of the common squid fishing grounds in the East Sea are mostly concentrated in the TWC area in the southwestern part of the East Sea and in the coast of southern Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan. The interannual distributions of the nighttime fishing vessels are consistent with the catches investigated from the fishing vessel.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.59-61
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• 2014

We conducted eight surveys in the northern East China Sea (ECS) in winter (February - April), summer (July), and autumn (October) 2004-2009, to investigate the seasonal distribution of T. pacificus. A total of 482 paralarvae, ranging in mantle length (ML) from 1.0 - 17.0 mm, were collected at 73 out of 181 stations. There were higher numbers of paralarvae during the winter and summer months than in the autumn. There was significant seasonal variation in the paralarval mantle lengths; mantle lengths were longer in winter (April) than in summer (July). The position of oceanic fronts in the study area played an important role in restricting paralarval distribution along the inshore edge of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC). When the TWC expanded to western Jeju Island in winter and autumn, the paralarval distribution range extended to include western Jeju Island. However, when the TWC was located southeast of Jeju Island in the summer, paralarvae were distributed along the frontal zone off southeast Jeju Island. Sites at which paralarval mantle length was <2.0 mm ML indicated that the spawning ground were likely to be within the northern ECS in winter and summer, but north of the study area in autumn.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.105-114
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• 1997

Wind is one of the main forcing contributing the circulation of the East Sea. By using 1.5-layer and 2.5-layer reduced gravity models, circulation in the East Sea is simulated. The bifurcation of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), the separation of East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) from the east coast of Korea, the Nearshore Branch of TWC, and the cyclonic gyres stretched from the East Korea Bay to the northern half of the East Sea are compared well with the schematic map. The features of the upper and the lower layer are very similar except for those of the central region. The Polar Front is the separating line of two different features. The main feature of northern part of the East Sea, north of the Polar Front is cyclonic gyres, which are composed of three cyclonic gyres in most seasons. North Korean Cold Current (NKCC) and Liman Cold Current (LCC) are the nearshore part of these cyclonic gyres. In the south of the Polar Front the current systems of both layers are anticyclonic in most seasons, except that those of the upper layer in winter and spring are not anticyclonic. Along the coast of Korea and Russia, the velocity structure is barotropic, while that of the central region is baroclinic. The effects due to the seasonal variations of wind stress and local Ekman suction/pumping are studied by imposing the domain with modified wind stress. which is spatial mean with temporal variations and temporal mean with spatial variations. It is found that the local Ekman suction/pumping due to wind stress curl is important to the formation of the cyclonic gyres in the western and the northwestern region of the East Sea.