Antarctic Wildlife Need Krill

Seabirds, Whales and Seals are Affected by Krill Fishery

© Dawn M. Smith

Antarctic wildlife, including blue whales, seals,albatross and penguins are negatively impacted by increased krill fishing in the Antarctic.

Some key Antarctic wildlife species depend heavily on krill (Euphausia superba). Blue whales, crabeater and leopard seals, as well as seabirds such as Emperor, rockhopper and Adelie penguin, and three species of albatross are all primarily krill feeders. Of these species the blue whale and the black-browed albatross are IUCN redlisted as Endangered and the Rockhopper penguin is considered Vulnerable. Ensuring a consistent food source is crucial to their long term survival.

Climate Change

Climate change is having a negative impact on krill spawning and nursery areas. Krill density is directly correlated with the duration and extent of sea ice. Less sea ice for shorter periods of time mean less krill survive. If sea surface temperatures continue to rise, the situation will only worsen.

The Fishery

Krill are sought commercially for aquaculture for fish meal and Omega 3 fish oil. Salmon farms prefer using krill as they also impart their pink color to the muscle of the fish, making them more attractive to the buying public.

Krill has become popular in the medical community to aid in post surgical healing and decrease cholesterol levels.

The problem

Much of the current krill fishery is conducted within the foraging ranges of the krill dependent marine mammal and seabird species Other than the whales, all these Antarctic creatures are land based so their foraging range, especially seabirds with young to feed, has to be limited or those young do not survive.

The proposed solution

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition(ASOC) has presented several papers before the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which outline ways of ‘preventing or mimizing the risk of changes in the marine ecosystem. These papers can be found on the above ASOC website.

Suggestions include:

By initiating these proposals the organizations involved hope to prevent the type of fishery collapse that has happened in other areas.


The copyright of the article Antarctic Wildlife Need Krill in Wildlife Preservation is owned by Dawn M. Smith. Permission to republish Antarctic Wildlife Need Krill must be granted by the author in writing.




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