Krill Fishing History
One small species of Krill has been harvested off the coast of Japan for the last 40 years, used mainly to feed farmed fish.
In the 1960s attention was turned to Antarctic Krill because the removal of Baleen whales meant that there was a huge abundance of Krill, around 150 tons a year.
This was the so called “Krill Surplus.”
Commercial krill fishing began in the 1970’s. Mostly the krill were caught for food for farmed fish.
Another key factor as to why krill fishing became so popular was the declaration of the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) in the late 1970’s. This enabled different nations to expand their fishing grounds to new international waters.
In the 1970s the Soviet Union dominated commercial krill fisheries. The early 1980’s saw the highest krill catch, around half a million tonnes. However commercial krill catches fluctuated throughout the '80’s, and declined when the USSR collapsed. However, scientists have found that the number of annual krill catches is increasing again.
By 1985, krill fishing was a $400 million annual industry, overtaking whaling in economic importance.
As of 2004/2005 year the estimated catch of krill is around 160,000 tonnes annually. New methods in the commercial fishing industry as well as new developments in catching krill have fueled the interest of the fishing industry to turn to krill.