Regional Report for PICES Region: 21 - Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean 2009–2016

The ECS is bounded to the north by the Yellow Sea, to the east by the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Ryukyu, and to the west by the Asian continent. [...] While the concentration of nutrients is deficient in the offshore area of the ECS, which is related to the influence of the Kuroshio and the Taiwan Warm Current intruding into the saline warm surface waters of the ECS, the Subei coastal current extends southeastward to enter the northern ECS, with low discharge and a prevailing northeasterly wind (Wang et al., 2003; Chen, 2008). [...] In spring, a large number of species was found in the southern and northern areas of the ECS and the northern area of the Taiwan Strait, but in the middle area of the ECS, the number was low (Li, 2003). [...] One was located in the inshore area of the estuary and the other was situated from the estuary to the north of the Taiwan Strait, both of which had the highest value of 250 ind./m2. [...] In spring, the biomass was high in the inshore area of the ECS, showing a decreasing trend from inshore to offshore; the biomass had highest values (250 g/m2) in the coastal area of Zhejiang province and formed high value areas in the north and middle of the Taiwan Strait.