| Summary: | Krill Harvesting has been a fisheries industry since the 1970s and was at its height in the early 1980s. The rapid increase in Krill harvests during this time were a cause for much concern and a major reason for the formation of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in 1982. Since then, CCAMLR has been the main governing body for the Krill harvesting industry but management practices have changed as scientific research has uncovered a basic lack of understanding of the effects removal of significant Krill biomass would have on the ecosystem. Political influences and technological constraints have been limiting factors for the expansion of the Krill industry, resulting in season catches having not yet reached the total allowable catch set by the CCAMLR. In fact Krill harvests have not yet reached again the peak seen in the 1980s. Increased market demand for Krill products in recent times has bought about the re-emergence of the Krill industry and as interest in this fishery has expanded so too has technology advancements and processing methods. The increase in Krill Harvests that these technology advancements could bring, coupled with an increased market demand, show a trend towards higher and higher levels of Krill extraction from the worlds oceans. This paper will focus on the harvesting of Krill in the Southern Ocean and how this relates to potential issues needing to be examined in the future.
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