China’s Shen Lan mollusk processing vessel in Antarctica, pictured by maritime campaigners in March 2023
Environmental group Bob Brown Foundation (BBF) And Sea Shepherd is calling for the mollusk fishing to be outlawed after filming the so-called “fish factory” super fishing boats from China, Chile and South Korea are catching a larger school of fin whales 100 children. Environmental groups, which have a long history of working together to successfully stop whaling in the Southern Ocean, are focusing their efforts on the mollusk fishing activity, which is heavily concentrated around the South Orkney and Seminary Islands. Antarctic island.
in one Press Release, Alistair Allan, the BBF’s Antarctic campaigner, says the super-fishing boats “do not make any effort to avoid the megapod of vulnerable fin whales,” appearing instead to deliberately scour them. , knowing that where there are whales, there are krill. Forming the basis of the entire Antarctic ecosystem, krill are a major source of food for baleen whales and penguins, with most of Antarctica’s marine life directly or indirectly dependent on crustaceans. small shrimp-like bodies. Krill are fished for products such as fish farm feed, pet food and health supplements.
Growing conflict between whales and fisheries was recorded in February 2023 Stanford University revealed four large fishing boats scouring a group of more than 1,000 fin whales chasing the same krill. In addition to the whale supergroup, the study authors’ video captured two humpback whales, a blue whale, Antarctic fur seals and thousands of seabirds.
The Convention for the Conservation of Marine and Antarctic Living Resources (CCAMLR), which is part of the Antarctic Treaty System, designates protected areas and sets fishing limits. As such, the super trawlers are legally operating in an area near the South Orkney Islands, which is designated Antarctic krill fishing under CCAMLR rules. In 2021, more than 370,000 tons of krill were caught, down from just over 450,000 tons caught in 2020. With the CCAMLR meeting this October to discuss the possibility of raising the catch limit, the Foundation Bob Brown and Sea Shepherd are calling on delegates to vote against the increase in krill fishing.
Alistair Allan said: “Krill is the foundation of the Antarctic ecosystem. “They deserve comprehensive protection, not the super fishing boats pulling them out of the ocean.”
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Krill, the foundation of the entire Antarctic ecosystem
