On 10 March, China’s largest Antarctic krill fishing vessel set off for Antarctic waters from Fujian, reports Fujian Daily.
The 139m vessel, named Fuyuan Fishing 9199, also functions as a factory that can process a reported 1,000 tonnes of krill a day.
Global krill catches have been booming in recent years, leading to concerns from scientists about the sustainability of the industry.
Antarctic krill is one of the world’s most abundant single-species organisms, with an estimated biomass of 379 million tonnes. Krill is critical to the Antarctic food chain, with penguins, whales, seals, and numerous other marine animals relying on it.
Fishing activities targeting Antarctic marine species, including krill, are regulated by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). In 2024, China gave notice of its intention and then fished for krill in Antarctica with four fishing vessels, according to CCAMLR records.
The Fuyuan Fishing 9199 vessel, which departed this month from Fujian, is supposedly an added vessel in 2025. Its final products will include krill meat, krill oil for health supplements and the pharmaceutical industry, and krill powder for aquaculture feed, stated Fujian Daily.
According to CCAMLR’s report, with the addition of larger, more advanced vessels, the Antarctic krill catch volume increased from 104,728 metric tonnes in 2007 to 424,203 in 2023. AP News also disclosed that the catch for 2024 had already reached a record 498,000 metric tonnes by October.
Although this is still below CCAMLR’s precautionary catch limit – of 5.61 million tonnes each year – environmentalists are concerned about the concentration of the activities in space and time. Additionally, loss of sea ice caused by climate change may further affect the reproduction and distribution of krill, leading to more uncertainties for the species.
Currently, CCAMLR has designated two marine protected areas, with four proposed areas under negotiation. For eight consecutive years, the CCAMLR meetings have failed to reach a consensus on establishing new marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.