Krill (euphausiids) have been viewed as possibly the largest single untapped source of harvestable marine protein yet they have only been commercially harvested in a few locations and these fisheries are relatively recent developments. Perhaps the best known fishery is for Antarctic krill which exceeded 500 000t/year in the 1980s, but there are also small-scale fisheries for other species in Canadian and Japanese waters. Interest in these stocks is increasing because of developments in the use of krill as aquaculture feed, for human consumption and because of the valuable biochemicals that can be isolated from krill. Thus FAO considered it timely to review the status of existing fisheries for these small marine crustaceans. This review was prepared by two leading researchers in this field: Dr Stephen Nicol, a scientist in charge of the Australian Antarctic Division's krill research programme and Dr Yoshinari Endo of Tohoku University, Japan, who is a member of the North Pacific Krill Resources Research Group. Both have extensive experience in research into krill around the world and have been involved in the management of krill fisheries in the Antarctic, through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
Cover by: Nicoletta De Angelis
Distribution
FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Regional Fishery Officers
Marine Sciences (General)
Authors
