Campaigners Call for End to Antarctic Krill Fishing

Environmental campaigners and scientists are renewing their push for a ban on industrial krill fishing in order to protect the ecosystem of the Antarctica Ocean. New evidence suggests that the emperor penguin populations in the Southern Ocean are declining faster than thought, and the decline could be linked to krill.

At the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) in Nice, France, the campaigners - led by National Geographic ocean explorer and conservationist Sylvia Earle, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Captain Paul Watson, filmmaker Andy Mann, and the Bob Brown Foundation (BBF) put out a call for a total ban on krill fishing. They argue that allowing krill fishing to continue is threatening the survival of whales, seals and penguins that depend on krill for food.

Krill, the tiny shrimp-like crustacean, is the lifeline of the Antarctic Ocea. These tiny creatures are the main source of food for whales, seals and penguins. A humpback whale needs around 1.5 to 2 tons of krill per day for survival.

In recent years, industrial krill fishing has been on the rise because of demand for fishmeal for pet food and farmed salmon feed, as well as krill oil for making omega-three pills products. A growing number of super trawlers are venturing in the Southern Ocean waters for krill. Data show that in 2024, catches soared to nearly half a million metric tonnes compared to around 100,000 metric tonnes in 2017. Norwegian, Chinese and South Korean trawlers dominate in industrial krill fishing, and even India is considering getting into the business.

The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), an international body mandated to protect the Antarctic ecosystem, has been trying to limit krill overfishing. Last year, the body refused to increase the krill quota for 2024 despite intense lobbying by the fishing industry, maintaining the quota at 620,000 tonnes. This it reckons is roughly one percent of the total stock of Antarctic krill, estimated at 215 million tonnes.

Campaigners and scientists now reckon that limiting the quotas is not good enough and want a total ban on krill fishing.

“Krill are the foundation of the Antarctic ecosystem but are caught to feed to factory farmed salmon, sold as supposed health capsules and for pet food. It is an environmental crime happening on our watch that supertrawlers are plundering krill from the Antarctic Ocean,” said Alistair Allan, BBF Antarctic and Marine campaigner.

Penguins in decline

The renewed push for an industrial krill fishing ban comes when scientists at the British Antarctic Survey have released a new study that shows that Antarctica’s iconic emperor penguin population may be decreasing faster than some of the most pessimistic predictions.

Based on up-to-date satellite imagery analysis, the new study highlights that the birds’ numbers declined by 22 percent over a 15-year period from 2009 to 2024. This is a huge decline considering that earlier estimates had put the decline at 9.5 percent over the 2009 to 2018 period. Assuming the current rates of global warming continue and are maintained, the scientists expect the birds to be extinct by 2100.

Apart from climate change, the study cites increased competition for food resources as another factor causing the decline of the penguin populations. The birds are facing competition from petrels, seals and killer whales for food.