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The global fish-farming industry is increasingly relying on krill-based fish feed, and enzymes and chemicals derived from krill are included in a number of dietary and medical products. Last year, for example, Aker Biomarine, an Oslo-based company specializing in harvesting and processing Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean, upgraded its krill harvesting vessel, the Saga Sea, to boost its catch. In the first half of 2010 it produced 8,600 tonnes of krill meal for the aquaculture market, up from 6,200 tonnes during the whole 2009 catch season. The total krill catch this season is expected to be 150,000–180,000 tonnes, exceeding last year's total by about 40%.
In May, Aker Biomarine's krill fishing was certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a London-based organization that aims to promote sustainable fishing practices by allowing catch from MSC-certified fisheries to be labelled as such (see 'Grabbing a bite'). The Pew Environment Group, an environmental advocacy group based in Washington DC, has objected to this, arguing that fishing for fishmeal should not be eligible for MSC certification. The row will come to a head at the October meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), an international body responsible for managing the fisheries in the Southern Ocean.
One issue for debate will be the CCAMLR's annual catch limit of 3.47 million tonnes in the Atlantic-bordering section of the Southern Ocean, the main fishing ground for Antarctic krill. "Current krill management fails to take account of the subtleties of the ecosystem," says Volker Siegel, a marine biologist at the Institute for Sea Fisheries in Hamburg, Germany, and member of the European Union's CCAMLR delegation. Siegel says that rather than setting an ocean-wide limit, krill fisheries should be regulated on a smaller scale, because much of the fishing is limited to a few sites.
Another worry is the number of fishing vessels being deployed in the Southern Ocean. Norway is now operating three ships, for example, and China is expected to rapidly increase its krill fishing after sending its first vessel this year. "If China starts fishing in a big way, catch will expand rapidly, outstripping our ability to orderly manage it," says Steve Nicol, a marine ecologist with the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania, who advises the Australian government on krill fisheries.
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http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100901/full/467015a.html
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