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Antarctic krill, also known as large krill, belongs to the krill family of arthropods, and does not belong to the shrimp family; It generally lives near Antarctica, but the place with the highest distribution density is the Atlantic Ocean.
Adult Antarctic krill are only 60mm-90mm long and weigh 2g, which are super large plankton and feed on other plankton;
It is transparent throughout, all organs are clearly visible, and has a biofluorometer that emits yellow-green light, like a "firefly" in the sea.
Due to overfishing, the resources of traditional fish are gradually decreasing, the global fishery resources are gradually declining, and the discovery of Antarctic krill is destined to contain huge economic value, so it is called "the largest protein resource bank in the future of mankind".
Its reproductive ability is amazing, it can lay 6,000-10,000 eggs at a time, and the social density is as high as 10,000 to 30,000 tails per cubic meter, in the case of a large base, even if more than a billion Chinese people are on the battlefield, they can't eat it;
According to incomplete statistics, the reserves of Antarctic krill were originally found at 650 million tons to 1 billion tons, which is worth as much as "offshore gold mines" and has attracted competition from all countries.
Subsequently, the Southern Ocean Biological Resources Reserve Survey mentioned that the number of Antarctic krill has grown year by year, and has grown to 5 billion tons, and most of them are concentrated in Antarctic waters.
Marine strategic resources have always been one of the focuses of competition among countries, and the huge number of Antarctic krill has intensified competition, and special research and development technology shipbuilding has rushed to Antarctica to fish.
Data show that the total number of Antarctic krill caught from Antarctic waters in countries around the world has reached 250,000 tons every year, and the competition is becoming more and more fierce.
Why is it that China started late in this "shrimp-chasing battle", but is considered the biggest beneficiary and the ultimate winner?
Countries around the world have opened the "battle for shrimp", how fierce is the competition?
The significance of marine strategic resources need not be said, and the competition for krill in various countries is like a "war without smoke and smoke", and the intensity can be imagined.
In the krill "baton" race, the former Soviet Union started early and fast, firmly in the first place, but there was an accident in the middle, and Japan caught up and became the leader in the second stick; With the help of new technology, Norway has gradually left Japan behind and is far ahead of the third stick.
And China, as a rising star, can be described as a collection of great achievements, under the guidance of taking its essence and removing its dross, we have made great progress all the way.
- The former Soviet Union – powerful, top krill catches:
In 1972, the former Soviet Union formulated the "Antarctic Exploration Plan" to quickly investigate the distribution location and size of krill stocks and implement commercial fishing.
Although the scale of the start of fishing is small, it still does not hinder the speed of the former Soviet Union on the "track". In 1982, the global krill catch was 528,000 tons, of which the former Soviet Union accounted for 491,700 tons!
Who would have thought that the former Soviet Union caught only 105,000 tons in 1977, which doubled 4 or 5 times in just 5 years, accounting for almost 80% of the world's catch, which determined the top position of krill in the former Soviet Union.
- Japan – came to the top and took over the second stick of krill:
Due to political changes, the speed of the former Soviet Union has gradually slowed down, or even stagnated, and it can only be "withdrawn" in the middle of the emergency, and Japan, which relies on marine resources for survival, takes advantage of the chaos to speed.
Japan's small size, coupled with its special geographical location, makes ordinary people rely on marine fisheries to meet their daily needs. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Japan realized the importance of krill to the survival of its people, hurried to catch up, and finally achieved overtaking in the corners.
In 1993, Japan's krill catch was 57,000 tons, not even a fraction of what it was before the former Soviet Union, but "the tiger was gone, the monkey was king", and the global catch at that time was only 65,000 tons.
As a result, Japan successfully ascended to the throne and became the second generation of "krill brothers".
- Norway – Alternating old and new, far ahead in the krill relay of the third bar:
Japan has been sitting on the throne of krill fishing for 12 years, until 2005, Norway in japan's experience of overtaking in curves, relying on scientific and technological strength, research and development of new fishing equipment, the annual krill catch accounts for almost half of the world's total, successfully took over the third stick, and far ahead of Japan.
In fact, as competition has become more intense, the United States, South Korea and Russia have become more and more popular, but they have not been fast enough and have been left far behind.
Compared with these countries, China entered the track very late, but the international view is unprecedented: China may be the biggest beneficiary of this "shrimp war", what is the reason?
Why is China the biggest beneficiary of the "shrimp battle"?
China's krill fishing is typically late start-up, fast development, is a veritable "dark horse" on the track, and the huge population and demand for living materials determine that we must run faster.
In 1984, the mainland conducted the first Antarctic scientific expedition, "back-tuning" krill, and officially joined the "shrimp war" in 2010. However, due to the lack of technology and equipment, the catch was only 31,900 tons in the case of only 1 krill fishing vessel.
However, after learning the technology and lessons of its predecessors, the mainland doubled its catch in 2016 to 66,000 tons, and the number of fishing vessels increased to 5!
In 2019, the mainland used the most advanced technology in the world to independently develop and design a professional-grade krill fishing vessel Deep Blue, with it, the mainland's krill catch exceeded 100,000 tons, closely following Norway's 160,000 tons, currently ranking second in the world.
The deep blue hull is 120 meters long, the width is 21.6 meters, the draft depth is 7.3 meters, the load capacity is 5000 tons, it can work normally at -25 °C, 0.8 ice thickness, and is also equipped with a continuous pump suction fishing system and a fully automatic production line, which not only has the function of fishing and processing, but also can be used as a scientific expedition.
In addition to the Deep Blue, the continent's Antarctic will also play a role in the fishing of krill, and the amount of krill caught by the mainland in the past decade has really surprised the world, so it will be considered the biggest beneficiary.
Are Antarctic krill really inexhaustible?
As a large plankton, Antarctic krill is a marine resource for humans, but for marine life, it is a necessary survival material, and whales, seals, and even seabirds need to feed on krill.
Therefore, human fishing for krill is actually equivalent to snatching food from the mouth of marine organisms.
According to incomplete statistics, the annual consumption of Antarctic krill is about 313 million tons, of which seals swallow 63 million to 130 million tons per year, whales swallow 34 million to 43 million tons, in addition to other marine life.
Therefore, although the Antarctic krill has strong reproductive ability and rapid growth in number, if humans overfish, the greenhouse effect causes the sea temperature to rise, etc., plankton cannot survive, and its population will decrease sharply.
At that time, it is possible to cause an imbalance in the marine ecology, the lack of food sources for marine life, and all the consequences will be borne by humans, and the consequences can be imagined.
For the sake of human survival, the Antarctic Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has set a ceiling of 625,000 tons of Antarctic krill catches per year in order to maintain the overall ecological balance.
Whether it is marine resources or other resources needed for human survival, only in the case of rational development and utilization can we go a long way; Asking nature for it without restraint will only destroy the ecological balance.