Krill fishing threatens to collapse the Southern Ocean ecosystem
A close-up photo of an Antarctic krill.
© Wikimedia Commons CC BY SA 3.0 Uwe Kils
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Krill is a crustacean the size of a safety pin and yet it is essential in Antarctica.
It is also an important source of food for whales, seals and penguins.
But it is also used by men, to make food supplements or to feed farmed salmon.
A farm that poses a problem for the proper functioning of the ecosystem.
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They move in swarms mainly in the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean, which borders Antarctica.
Above all, krill has a major role in absorbing carbon from algae on the surface of the water, explains Sophie Nodzenski, of the NGO Changing Markets Foundation, who released a report on
overfishing of the crustacean
: "
These algae are eaten by the krill which will then travel to the bottom of the ocean and deposit this carbonaceous waste.
For example, krill help slow global climate change by transporting up to 23 million tonnes of carbon to the bottom of the Southern Ocean.
»
Overfishing threatens krill predators
Except that their population would have decreased by more than 80% since 1970. In the fishing areas, the animals that hunt krill are now in competition with the trawlers: "
It's the whole future of the local ecosystem that is in game in our opinion.
It is whales, seals, penguins and all species that depend on krill for their survival as a species.
Whereas we, as humans, are not dependent on krill.
»
According to researchers from the US Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency.
The intensification of krill fishing could cause the disappearance of a third of the penguin population by the end of the century.
Krill, Baby, Krill🦐 => Our new investigation found that leading retailers are complicit in plundering #Antarctica.
They are being fooled by the industry's tactics to portray krill products as sustainable.
https://t.co/HKYu6VyvDV #FishingTheFeed #WorldKrillDay pic.twitter.com/YC7e75r2Uf
— Changing Markets Foundation (@ChangingMarkets) August 11, 2022
►Also read: Antarctic sea ice reaches its lowest level ever observed
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Agriculture and Fishing