“…In the Sea of Japan (the Japan Sea, Figure 1), which is a semiclosed marginal sea of the western North Pacific, where seasonal phytoplankton blooms occur (a major spring and minor autumn blooms) (Kim, Saitoh, Ishizaka, Isoda, & Kishino, 2000;Kim, Yoo, & Oh, 2007;Onitsuka & Yanagi, 2005;Onitsuka, Yanagi, & Yoon, 2007;Park, Kang, Kim, & Park, 2014;Yamada, Ishizaka, Yoo, Kim, & Chiba, 2004;Yanagi, Onitsuka, Hirose, & Yoon, 2001), the Japanese sardine stock displays a high level of temporal variation (Figure 2).…”