Kuroshio Current areas in the Tsushima Strait and near the Goto Islands to overlap. In addition, winter spawning sites over the continental shelf and slope in the East China Sea are expanding. Kuroshio Current The is a north-flowing ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean. It is similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic and is part of the North Pacific ocean gyre. Like the Gulf stream, it is a strong western boundary current. It begins off the east coast of Luzon, Philippines, Taiwan and flows northeastward past Japan, where it merges with the easterly drift
Korea Strait Korea Strait into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait. The western channel is deeper (up to 227 meters) and narrower than the Tsushima Strait. A branch of the Kuroshio Current passes through the strait. Its warm branch is sometimes called the Tsushima Current. Originating along the Japanese islands this current passes through the Sea of Japan then divides along either shore of Sakhalin Island, eventually flowing into the northern Pacific Ocean via the strait north of Hokkaidō and into the Sea of Okhotsk north of Sakhalin Island near Vladivostok. The water-mass characteristics vary widely because of the low-salinity waters