Antarctic krill and ecosystem monitoring survey at South Orkney Islands in 2016

• Main Authors: Krafft, Bjørn Arne, Skaret, Georg, Krag, Ludvig Ahm, Rustand, Torborg, Pedersen, Ronald
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Havforskningsinstituttet 2016
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; South Shetland Islands; Bransfield Strait; Norway; South Orkney Islands; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2409242

- Small scaled Russian exploratory fishing for krill in the Southern Ocean began in the late 1960s. During the 1970s the fisheries increased and annual catches of krill have exhibited a number of fluctuations since the beginning of commercial harvesting. Some of these changes have resulted from developments in technology and products whilst others have their origins in global economics and politics. The largest catches were reported in season 1981-1982 with more than 500 000 tonnes. Since 1989, the catches have been on a much lower level. The current krill fishery starts in December and ends usually in August-September. Although krill fishing is permitted in many parts of the Southern Ocean, the current fishery is concentrated around the South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait, the South Orkneys and South Georgia. These areas are located in CCAMLR (Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living resources) statistical subareas 48.1 to 48.3. Norway participated with three vessels in the 2014/15 season and landed 146,968 tonnes, followed by China with 35,427 tonnes and South Korea with 23,342 tonnes. In total, 225,465 tonnes were fished this season. Products mainly produced from krill include meal and oil, which in turn goes to the feed, food supplements, cosmetics and medicine industries.