Table 1. Biological information on species of krill that are commercially harvested or which have been proposed as harvested species
Species |
Common names |
Maximum weight (g) |
Maximum length (mm) |
Estimated life span |
Depth distribution |
Where commercially fished |
Euphausia superba |
Antarctic krill |
2 |
65 |
5-7 years |
Surface to 500m |
Antarctic |
Euphausia pacifica |
North Pacific krill |
0.1 |
20 |
1-2 years |
Surface to 300m |
Japan, British Columbia |
Euphausia nana |
Ami-ebi |
0.01 |
10 |
<1year |
Surface to 300m |
Japan |
Thysanoessa inermis |
smaa krill |
0.15 |
32 |
2 years |
Surface to 300m |
Japan Gulf of St. Lawrence |
Thysanoessa raschii |
smaa krill |
0.13 |
30 |
2 years |
Surface to 300m |
Gulf of St. Lawrence |
Meganyctiphanes norvegica |
North Atlantic krill |
0.5 |
40 |
2+ years |
Surface to 300m |
Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mediterranean, Scotian Shelf
(proposed) |
Nyctiphanes australis |
Brit |
0.02 |
17 |
1 year |
surface to 150m. |
Tasmania, Australia (proposed) |
Table 2. Nations involved in experimental or commercial krill fishing in the Antarctic
*Non-signatory to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
Table 3. Catch of Antarctic krill by nations fishing in the CCAMLR area 1984-1996
Year |
Japan |
Panama |
Latvia |
Chile |
Poland |
Korea |
USSR |
Russia |
Ukraine |
1995/96 |
60546 |
495 |
0 |
0 |
20610 |
0 |
- |
0 |
13388 |
1994/95 |
60203 |
141 |
0 |
0 |
9384 |
0 |
- |
0 |
48886 |
1993/94 |
62322 |
0 |
71 |
3843 |
7915 |
0 |
- |
965 |
8708 |
1992/93 |
59272 |
0 |
0 |
3261 |
15911 |
0 |
- |
4249 |
6083 |
1991/92 |
74325 |
0 |
0 |
6066 |
8607 |
519 |
- |
151725 |
61719 |
1990/91 |
67582 |
0 |
0 |
3679 |
9571 |
1211 |
275495 |
- |
- |
1989/90 |
62187 |
0 |
0 |
4501 |
1275 |
4040 |
302376 |
- |
- |
1988/89 |
78928 |
0 |
0 |
5329 |
6997 |
1779 |
301498 |
- |
- |
1987/88 |
73112 |
0 |
0 |
5938 |
5215 |
1525 |
284873 |
- |
- |
1986/87 |
78389 |
0 |
0 |
4186 |
1726 |
1527 |
290401 |
- |
- |
1985/86 |
61074 |
0 |
0 |
3264 |
2065 |
0 |
379270 |
- |
- |
1984/85 |
38274 |
0 |
0 |
2598 |
0 |
0 |
150538 |
- |
- |
Table 4. Estimated current consumption of Antarctic krill by major predators (from Miller and Hampton, 1989)
Predator |
Consumption (range) |
Whales |
34 - 43 |
Seals |
63 - 130 |
Birds |
15 - 20 |
Squid |
30 - 100 |
Fish |
10 - 20 |
Total |
152 -313 |
Prefecture |
Contents of License |
Self-regulation |
|
Iwate |
No. boat seine |
363 |
Total catch 25,000 tons 400 for boat > 9 tons |
Miyagi |
No. boat seine |
162 |
Total catch 25,000 tons 21,000 tons for boat seineMax. number of containers per day 350 for boat > 15 tons |
Fukushima |
No. boat seine |
482 |
Max. catch 6 tons per boat per day |
Ibaraki |
No. boat seine |
514 |
Max. catch 6 tons per boat per day |
Table 6. Estimates of E. pacifica consumed annually by the three demersal fish species in the vicinity of Kinkasan Island (Adapted from Kodama and Izumi 1994)
Fish species |
Body length |
Annual Catch |
Biomass |
1-E1) |
Daily ration |
Krill ratio2) |
Annual Krill consumption |
Walleye pollack
|
10-25 |
12,265 |
40,883 |
0.904 |
2.3 |
0.74 |
231,594 |
25-35 |
18,215 |
60,717 |
0.935 |
1.7 |
0.69 |
237,339 |
|
> 40 |
10,346 |
34,487 |
0.891 |
1.5 |
0.44 |
75,503 |
|
total |
40,826 |
136,087 |
|
|
|
544,437 |
|
Pacific cod
|
15-25 |
496 |
1,653 |
0.946 |
2.6 |
0.31 |
4,542 |
30-40 |
1,814 |
6,047 |
0.951 |
1.9 |
0.09 |
3,746 |
|
> 50 |
1,067 |
3,557 |
0.901 |
1.9 |
0.01 |
213 |
|
total |
3,377 |
11,257 |
|
|
|
8,501 |
|
Pacific herring |
|
180 |
600 |
0.641 |
1.5 |
0.61 |
1,295 |
1) E denotes proportion of individuals with empty stomach.2) Occurrence of Euphausia pacifica in the fish stomach relative to the occurrence of total food items.
Table 7. Euphausiid landings (tonnes) and effort for British Columbia, 1983 to 1993, as reported on sales slips and harvest logs
Year |
Number of Licences Issued |
Number of Vessels with Landings |
Fishing Days' |
Quota |
Landings2 |
Landed Value1 |
Whole Landed Value1 |
Effort2 |
CPUE |
1983 |
7 |
2 |
50 |
500 |
47 |
-- |
-- |
333 |
142 |
1984 |
8 |
4 |
67 |
500 |
103 |
38 |
400 |
563 |
183 |
1985 |
5 |
2 |
65 |
500 |
131 |
28 |
230 |
486 |
270 |
1986 |
11 |
2 |
67 |
525 |
166 |
98 |
590 |
475 |
345 |
1987 |
18 |
3 |
36 |
525 |
130 |
102 |
780 |
354 |
331 |
1988 |
24 |
4 |
11 |
525 |
247 |
191 |
780 |
1,427 |
255 |
1989 |
45 |
15 |
225 |
785 |
360 |
215 |
600 |
1,070 |
306 |
1990 |
56 |
17 |
255 |
500 |
530 |
415 |
785 |
1,358 |
368 |
1991 |
45 |
14 |
152 |
500 |
450 |
391 |
867 |
1,120 |
508 |
1992 |
25 |
10 |
87 |
500 |
381 |
318 |
835 |
398 |
1,153 |
1993 |
18 |
3 |
29 |
500 |
53 |
41 |
774 |
88 |
565 |
1994* |
18 |
6 |
122 |
500 |
333 |
259 |
777 |
-- |
-- |
1995* |
18 |
7 |
163 |
500 |
563 |
357 |
634 |
-- |
-- |
1 from sales slip data
2 from harvest log da
* preliminary data
Table 8. Biochemical composition of Euphausia superba
Substance |
Concentration |
Uses |
Reference |
Protein |
37.5 |
Nutritional |
(Nicol et al., 1992b) |
Lipid |
22.46 |
Nutritional |
(Nicol et al., 1992b) |
Chitin |
2.04 |
Pharmaceutical/industrial |
(Nicol et al., 1992b) |
Proteolytic enzymes |
trace |
Medical/Pharmaceuticals |
(Karlstam et al., 1991) |
Carotenoids |
31 |
Pigment |
(Kolakowska, 1988) |
Vitamin A |
trace |
Nutritional |
(Suzuki and Shibata, 1990) |