Antarctic krill
Antarctic krill, also known as Antarctic krill, it is worth mentioning that: krill is not a shrimp, belongs to the krill family, and shrimp is a cousin relationship, usually in a cluster way to live, the density can reach 10000-30000 million per cubic meter. Reaching a length of 6 cm and weighing 2 grams, it prefers to feed on tiny phytoplankton.
In addition, the main spawning season of Antarctic krill is from January to March, and females can lay 6000-10000 eggs each time, plus the life span is about 6 years, Antarctic krill has become one of the most fertile and ethnic species on the earth. Also known as the "gold mine of the sea", it is arguably the most successful species on Earth.
Antarctic krill is mainly concentrated in the Southern Ocean, distributed around the poles, the highest density is in the Atlantic region, providing a major food source for this marine ecological species, crab-eating seals as the world's largest number of seals, 98% of its diet is Antarctic krill, consuming more than 63 million tons per year.
Due to the high protein and vitamins of Antarctic krill suitable for humans to eat and feed animals directly, countries around the world will also look at Antarctic krill, and Antarctic krill is rich in krill oil, containing four phospholipids that the body needs, and the amount of pollution is extremely low, most of the currently caught Antarctic krill will be used to extract krill oil.
fishery
The early Antarctic krill fishery was about 100,000 tons per year, with the main countries being South Korea, Norway, Japan and Poland. It is eaten as a dish in Japan and used as animal food and bait in other countries. This is also mainly because Antarctic krill is more difficult to handle.
Catching krill with a small net will cause great resistance, resulting in a bow wave will be off the krill sides, and the hole of the fine net will be blocked, when the network is re-netted to catch krill, it will affect the amount of capture, in addition, the krill must be quickly processed, otherwise the krill caused by squeezing, will make the krill lose body fluids, after a few hours will become bad.
China becomes the biggest "dark horse"
At first, China used only one krill-catching vessel, by 2015, China added four more vessels, and by May 14, 2020, China's self-developed Deep Blue had once again joined the Antarctic krill fishery team, but it is worth mentioning that the world's five largest Antarctic krill fishing companies signed antarctic sensitive area fishing in 2018.
In addition, five fishing giants also announced at the same time that they support the establishment of a large-scale network of Antarctic marine protected areas. It is worth noting that this is the first time that a fishing company has expressed its support for the establishment of a marine protected area. Krill fishing poses a huge threat to Antarctica, with bunker spills and reefing by ships threatening the ecological environment, and competing with animals throughout the sea for krill.
Naturally, China has also made commitments, but with the addition of the Deep Blue, try to avoid fishing in sensitive areas, and still be able to make a lot of profits in legal areas, as the world's largest number of ships and the largest fishing range, China has played an important role in the protection of Antarctic waters.