China and the race to fish a tiny animal with a vast climate role

In March last year, the Fu Yuan Yu 9199 made its first voyage from Fujian in south-east China. The ship carried 85 crew through the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic for over 30 days to reach the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, where it started hunting for a tiny creature: krill.

These big-eyed, paperclip-long crustaceans, with strong swimming legs and a huge appetite, often huddle under sea ice seeking food and shelter. But the ice cannot protect them from the technology aboard this industrial fishing ship.

The vessel’s suction pumps can slurp up 1,000 tonnes per day as it works among penguins and whales there to share in the feast. Older vessels worked more slowly, relying on midwater trawls and hauling and setting nets.

Six Antarctic krill vessels are currently registered from China, of which the Fu Yuan Yu 9199 is the largest and newest to have gone to the Southern Ocean. It will not be the newest for long. Yongli, from Ningbo city on the east coast, aims to make its inaugural Southern Ocean trip this year.  

While Fujian’s Lianjiang county government approved the construction of a new ship, Fu Yuan Yu 9666, in June. A krill-processing industrial park in the area is expected to be completed next year.  

Most krill fishers operate off the Antarctic Peninsula, which is warming at twice the rate of the global average. The majority of the animals there are dependent on krill at some level, as the creatures lie at the base of the food chain. One such is the Antarctic fur seal which was declared endangered earlier this year; krill shortages were cited as an important factor.

When the Antarctic fur seal was declared endangered this year, krill shortages were identified as an important factor (Image: Sally Anderson / Alamy)

Some scientists say krill harvests are small enough to be sustainable if managed well. Concern among conversationists is growing, however, as the Chinese government and companies continue to pour money into catching an animal that cannot be eaten by humans without almost immediate processing.

That concern has only grown since August, when the Antarctic krill fishery closed months ahead of schedule after the 620,000-tonne annual catch limit was reached. A meeting this month will now determine what happens next year.

Small animal, big industry

The total biomass of Antarctic krill is thought to be around 379 million tonnes, one of the biggest for any single species globally. As such, these little animals are a big part of the carbon cycle that regulates the climate globally. Krill lock at least 20 million tonnes of carbon annually, equivalent to all the carbon stored by coastal plants according to researchers at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in England.

China’s industrial fishing operation targeting krill, which started less than two decades ago, continues to expand. It is the second biggest krill-fishing country, after Norway, and has the largest operating fleet: six of the 15 vessels registered with the body that governs protection in Antarctic waters, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), are Chinese flagged.

Last year, China’s vessels almost doubled their 2024 Antarctic krill catch and harvested a record 231,083 tonnes – although still 95,224 tonnes less than Norway. Chilean, South Korean and Ukrainian ships also chase this species.

Under CCAMLR’s “Olympic approach”, vessels race to scoop up as many krill as they can before reaching the 620,000-tonne catch limit. The more advanced the vessel, the more competitive it is at snapping up a decent slice of the quota.

Despite the approach, vessels had never reached the threshold until last year.

Bringing it all back home, but why?

Processing capacity in China is ramping up to deal with the growing catches. By the time the second construction phase of Fujian’s new industrial park is completed next year, it will be able to process 150,000 tonnes annually. Products will range from Antarctic krill oil and frozen dried krill to fish feed and pet food, according to Fujian Zhengguan Fishery Development, which also owns Fu Yuan Yu 9199 and 9666.

Construction of another krill industrial park in the north-eastern province of Liaoning began in July. These will join similar facilities already operating in Shandong and Jiangsu.

Currently, Antarctic krill plays a limited role in China’s food system. Most of what the nation’s fleet bring back from the Southern Ocean is processed into a fine powder, krill meal. This is used as feed, especially as an appetite stimulant, in the aquaculture and pig farming industries.  

Dialogue Earth consulted a marine food processing researcher working at a Chinese university, who specialises in Antarctic krill technology. The researcher – who asked to remain anonymous – estimates that Chinese krill vessels produce around 25,000 tonnes of krill meal every year. For comparison, annual fishmeal demand in China is around two million tonnes. The researcher explains that China is betting on what is needed in years to come: “China has a population of 1.4 billion, and krill is a strategic resource.”

Chinese researchers, state media and companies have all described Antarctic krill as an important protein source. The largest fisheries nation, China produced nearly 32 million tonnes of farmed fish in 2025, much of which requires fishmeal and oil for feed. The country relies on imports for at least half of this supply. The researcher explains that this supply is not always stable, and emphasises that climate change is increasingly reshaping marine ecosystems.

In May, Peru imposed a temporary anchovy fishing ban that was prompted by the El Niño weather phenomeon. This spiked fishmeal prices to their highest since records began in 1992, focusing attention on other sources.

But China’s nascent krill industry is not just focusing on fish meal.

With an eye on bigger profits, krill fishing companies are shifting gear to develop krill oil health supplement products, such as Antarctic krill protein peptides. According to the food processing researcher, 2-5% of China’s harvested krill are currently used for health supplements.

“The state encourages companies to fish [in Antarctica] not because these companies can make a lot of money out of it,” says the Chinese researcher. “They may not even make money … but we must maintain our ability to source from Antarctica, on the condition of not causing great harm to the environment.”

Enabled by government backing 

Antarctic krill fishing is a costly business, owing to long journeys with high fuel costs and the need for specialised ships that can operate in extreme cold. Chinese government officials at various levels offer significant financial support to make it happen.

Fujian provincial government documents show that 25% of the Fu Yuan Yu 9199’s CNY 601 million (USD 89 million) building cost was subsided by the state. In the southern city of Shenzhen, the municipal government says it will offer up to CNY 200 million (USD 30,000) towards the construction of a krill-fishing vessel.

The financial backing continues on land. Local authorities on some coasts offer anything from dozens to thousands of yuan per tonne of krill a company brings to the area. In 2023, the company operating the krill vessel Shen Lan received CNY 6 million (USD 900,000) for nearly 5,500 tonnes of krill landed in Jiangsu province’s Lianyun area.

Some Chinese local authorities incentivise fishing vessels to land krill in their ports (Image: Cynthia Lee / Alamy)

Such subsidies aim to incentivise distant-water fishers to bear the cost of bringing their catch back to meet demand in China, rather than selling it in markets nearer the fishing grounds.

Local and central governments also offer construction subsidies for the facilities that process distant-water products, including krill industrial parks. Some environmentalists worry that such enormous state support is enabling typically unviable fishing, which is increasing the chance of damaging ecosystems.

Big ambitions, capped by quotas

Conservationists are increasingly worried that this growth could soon overwhelm the waters encompassing the Antarctic Peninsula.

A CCAMLR conservation measure used to be in place to ensure vessels spread out their catch, thus minimising competition for krill with animals that rely heavily on them. Negotiations to renew this measure failed two years ago, leaving vessels free to fish in a more concentrated and rapid manner.

On top of this, climate change and melting sea ice are affecting krill populations.

The population is faltering, says Yang Guang, a scientist specialising in Antarctic krill and the Southern Ocean at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oceanology. He refers to research showing that krill density decreased by 70% between the 1970s and 2000s in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. This area holds approximately 70% of the total krill stock and is where most of the commercial fishing occurs.

“Apart from the change in abundance, their distribution has also contracted and migrated towards the high-latitude polar waters,” says Yang. “This happens to be in coastal areas where large marine animals, such as penguins and seals, and vessels, take krill.”  

This increases interactions between ships and animals, contributing to bycatch and intensifying competition for krill, he adds.

Between 2021 and 2024, that bycatch has included at least six humpback whales that all died as a result.

There are two marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean, dedicated to the South Orkney Islands southern shelf and the Ross Sea. Australia, France, the European Union, Chile and Argentina are among those pushing for the creation of more, to protect marine life. Since 2016, however, China and Russia have successfully resisted these efforts, in part because of their krill-fishing interests.

In recent annual negotiations, China pushed hard for a bigger krill quota, according to CCAMLR meeting reports. Norway has proposed expanding the annual catch limit too, from 620,000 metric tonnes to nearly 1.2 million, to be supported by spatial distribution rules and a monitoring strategy.

Negotiation on catch limit is tied up with the debates on new marine reserve designation. In 2024, CCAMLR attempted to bargain on the two elements together, but nations could not agree on how that should practically work.

Chen Jiliang, a lecturer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at Australia’s University of Tasmania, says China’s upfront investment in the krill industry has increased the pressure on its delegation to push for higher catch limits.

“Building several new, specialised krill-fishing vessels, before knowing the catch limit would be raised, limits the room for compromise at the talks,” he adds.

He suggests the adjustment of krill catch limits should be carried out in parallel with the creation of the marine protected area off the Antarctic Peninsula and the measure to ensure catches are spatially and temporally distributed. These measures should work in a coordinated way and only be extended when the management is proven effective.

Effective and close monitoring on how human activities and climate change are affecting the environment and resources should also be in place while the changes are carried out, he adds.

The annual meeting of CCAMLR, where these discussions occur, will be held from 20-31 October in Hobart, Australia.

Science is chasing the industry

The Chinese government has been investing in its scientific capacity to understand Antarctic ecosystems. Its flagship icebreaking research vessel Xue Long 2 has undertaken multiple Antarctic expeditions since its launch in 2019.

Meanwhile, China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, is reviewing the draft of its first ever law on Antarctic activities and environmental protection. The legislation will cover Chinese nationals’ fisheries activities in the region, as well as scientific research and tourism. Chen, who is also a senior advisor at the Beijing-based non-profit Greenovation Hub, says that instead of bringing any practical changes, the legislation integrates the existing rules and increases their transparency.

Analysing krill samples aboard the research vessel Xue Long 2 (Image: Imago / Alamy)

Yang Guang has been on nine research trips to the Southern Ocean since 2009 to study plankton including Antarctic krill. This May, he returned from China’s 42nd Antarctic expedition on Xue Long 2. Relative to the US, he says, China has “invested quite a lot in the past two years, despite a struggling global economic situation”.

Much progress has been made in understanding Antartic krill, including its life cycle and the size and distribution of its populations. However, Yang says it remains very difficult to judge what catch level is safe scientifically, as krill abundance fluctuates considerably year by year. “It is possible that there will be 100 individuals in this place this year and only 10 next year.” 

The industrial and technological development of fishing vessels often outpaces scientific understanding. Yang says that due to increased sea ice melt, fishing vessels are now netting krill in Antarctica’s winter, a season understudied in terms of krill movement and distribution. There have been international calls to utilise krill-fishing vessels for scientific research and data collection, he adds.

“I am not opposed to the Antarctic krill fishery,” Yang adds. “If catch volumes are low, management is strict, and there is a solid scientific basis, it can be a sustainable fishery. However, if we overfish, the risks are significant. The Southern Ocean ecosystem is relatively simple.”

Overfishing would collapse the ecosystem’s short food web, which is predominantly sustained by Antarctic krill. “Once the ecosystem collapses, its recovery – if that is even possible – would take many years. The impacts on humans also would be tremendous. Its role in regulating the world’s climate would disappear.”