The Antarctic continent covers an area of approximately 13.9 million square kilometers. It is an uninhabited land covered by huge ice. The average temperature is -25°C, and the lowest can reach -91°C. There are more than 300 days of level 8 winds out of 365 days a year.. ....
It is such a harsh environment that makes Antarctica the last pure land for mankind. It is also the reserve fishery with the greatest potential in the world, nurturing rich marine resources. Among them, Antarctic krill are the resources Antarctica first provided for human development and utilization.
Antarctic krill has thin skin and tender meat, and also has certain medicinal value. It is the most potential marine biological resource and excellent protein source on the earth.
has a protein content of more than 50%. It is the biological with the highest protein content found so far, and is rich in a variety of amino acids and vitamin A necessary for human tissues.
An Australian biologist discovered from the stomach of a blue whale that Antarctic krill weighed 1,000 kilograms.
It can be seen that Antarctic krill is abundant in the Southern Ocean . By using acoustic equipment to survey parts of the Southern Ocean, scientists have conservatively estimated that the Antarctic krill biomass can reach 560 million to 1 billion tons , or even more.
Antarctic krill resources have been hailed as "the future protein resource warehouse of mankind". Such a rich "sea gold mine" has also attracted the attention of countries around the world.
Antarctic krill - the largest group of marine organisms
Antarctic krill, also known as Antarctic krill and giant krill , is a crustacean zooplankton with a body length of generally 3-5cm and the longest It can reach 6.4cm, weighs about 2g, and has an average lifespan of 3-5 years. It mainly feeds on tiny phytoplankton .
Antarctic krill has a golden appearance and reddish spherical light emitters in its body. It looks crystal clear and bright. It is a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem.
Blue whales, fin whales , humpback , sperm whales , etc. all feed on krill. Even the "aboriginal" penguins of the Antarctic continent also eat krill.
In addition, Antarctic krill also provide an important food source for seals, fur seals, squid, ice fish, and other birds.
Antarctic krill like to swarm. In dense sea areas, there can be 400 tons of krill per square kilometer. The American research ship "Melville" once discovered a giant krill swarm, which was estimated to be at least 10 million tons. This is the largest group of marine organisms discovered so far.
According to measurements, the nutritional value of krill is much higher than that of shrimp, and much higher than beef and ordinary fish. The protein contained in every 10 krill is equivalent to the nutritional value of 200 grams of barbecue.
Caught Antarctic krill are usually processed in two ways: One is frozen into frozen shrimp; the other is processed into pink shrimp.
Since Antarctic krill contains strong active decomposing enzymes and other substances, it will turn into turbid dark red after dehydration and dissolution. It must be processed within a short time (1-3 hours) after being caught.
In the past, Antarctic krill was mainly used as animal food or fish bait in various countries, and it was mainly used as cooking in Japan. Later, it was discovered that Antarctic krill is rich in krill oil , and the amount of pollution is extremely low. Nowadays, most of the is made into high-quality krill powder, extracted krill oil and other .
Some scientists imagine that if 150 million tons are salvaged every year, the need for aquatic products for all mankind can be guaranteed.
Antarctic krill attracts competition from all countries for its huge reserves, delicious taste and rich influence, and has become a key target for fishermen around the world.
How fierce is the competition among countries?
After the huge biomass of Antarctic krill was discovered by humans, scientists have been exploring how to develop and utilize it.
Since the early 1970s, some countries have begun to commercially develop and utilize Antarctic krill, which can be divided into three periods:
- The first stage:
During the heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, the annual catch reached 500,000 Ton. The former Soviet Union and Japan were the main fishing countries, 90% of which were caught by the former Soviet Union.
- The second stage:
In the 1990s, more and more countries in the world recognized the importance of Antarctic krill resources and joined the ranks of development and utilization. The main developing countries are Russia, Japan, Chile, Poland etc.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Japan took the opportunity to launch large-scale fishing, accounting for 80% of the entire catch. For example, in 1993, the global krill catch was only 65,000 tons, of which Japan accounted for 57,000 tons.
- The third stage:
Since the 21st century, Norway, South Korea, the United States, etc. have also successively carried out fishing in Antarctica. Krill fishing, Among them, Norway and South Korea have increased their fishing of Antarctic krill and have gradually become the main countries for fishing krill.
In 2007 and 2008, South Korea's krill production reached 33,000 tons and 40,000 tons respectively; Norway's krill output was 39,000 tons and 63,000 tons respectively. Norway ranked first among all countries.
Our country has always paid great attention to the resources of Antarctic krill. In 2007, it joined CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). In 2010, it officially started actual fishery fishing for Antarctic krill, becoming one of the eight countries that actually fishes for krill in Antarctica. one.
As a rising star, China is considered by the international community to be the biggest dark horse in the "krill war"!
Why does China say it may become the biggest “beneficiary”?
Since 2010, my country's 7,000-ton large-scale fishing and processing vessels "Kaili", "Kaiyu" and "Kaifu" have successively sailed to the Antarctic ice sea.
In 2013, China, which had only one fishing vessel, caught 31,900 tons. But by 2016, my country's Antarctic krill fishing volume reached 66,000 tons, and the number of krill fishing vessels increased to 5!
In 2019, my country independently developed the first Antarctic krill fishing and processing ship "Deep Blue" launched into the water. It has a total length of about 120 meters, a width of 21.06 meters, and a design draft of 7.3 meters. is the world's most advanced pelagic fishery fishing and processing vessel. All-in-one boat.
"Deep Blue" is not only equipped with the world's advanced continuous pump fishing system and fully automatic krill product production line, but also can realize continuous processing and automatic packaging and transportation of shrimp meat, frozen shrimp, shrimp meal and shrimp oil. Operation.
In just over ten years, China’s Antarctic krill industry has grown from scratch and has become one of the world’s major Antarctic krill industry development sites. It may become the biggest beneficiary of the “sea gold mine” of Antarctic krill.
Many people may worry that competing countries to catch Antarctic krill will make it extinct? Antarctic krill are extremely reproductive and have a short maturity period. Each female shrimp can lay more than 11,000 eggs and can be harvested after 2 years of growth.
Biologists estimate that if the annual catch of krill does not exceed 50 million tons, it will not affect the ecological balance of the Southern Ocean and krill will grow and develop normally.
Therefore, even though Antarctic krill reserves are large, humans must fish them reasonably. Otherwise, we will be disgraced by this precious resource that the earth has given to humans, and the consequences will eventually come back to us.
In order to avoid overexploitation and damage to the Southern Ocean ecosystem by humans, CCAMLR has formulated a series of regulations for Antarctic krill fishing operations based on scientific assessments.
