As soon as the net went down, millions of Antarctic krill were pocketed, which is the "Mingkai" Antarctic fishing boat.
The "Mingkai" fishing vessel is preparing for the voyage, and it is about to go to Antarctica, 10,000 kilometers away, to fish for Antarctic krill. It is reported that its daily catch can reach 200 tons, and the annual output has reached 26,000 tons, with an output value of more than 200 million.
So how exactly does it fish for Antarctic krill in the polar regions?
With a total length of 120 meters, a width of 20 meters and a maximum load of 2,600 tons, the "Mingkai" can operate as usual even if it encounters a level 10 sea breeze. When fishing, the crew first releases a giant fishing net with a circumference of 1,440 meters into the sea, and then uses two giant steel supports weighing 4.8 tons to prop up the fishing net to form an oval net with a width of 120 meters and a height of 60 meters.
After some time, the fishing net was fished up and it was full. However, due to the extremely short lifespan of Antarctic krill after leaving the seawater, the fishing vessel also has its own processing equipment, which can be processed directly after being salvaged.
First of all, the salvaged krill is put into a fish tank and passed through the fish tank into the processing workshop. Here, the krill are divided into two batches, with the whole krill being shipped directly to the cold storage for quick freezing, and the incomplete krill being ground into shrimp powder before being placed in the cold storage. In this way, wave after wave of salvage and production, it didn't take long for a lot of money.
In fact, in addition to the "Mingkai", in July 2022, the "Deep Blue" fishing and processing vessel independently developed and built by the mainland was also put into use. True, the "Mingkai" was not independently developed by the mainland, but was made by Germany in 1993 and purchased from the United Kingdom.
The fishing capacity of this "Deep Blue" is stronger, with a daily output of up to 600 tons, an annual output of 7-100,000 tons, and an output value of more than 1 billion. It can also operate at temperatures as low as -25°C. It not only satisfies the fishing of deep-sea fisheries, but also takes into account the function of marine scientific research.
In addition, the more powerful Yongli will be launched at the end of September 2024. The Yongli is more specialized and has a stronger ability to harvest and process Antarctic krill. It is reported that the "Yongli" adopts an advanced continuous pumping and fishing system, and a modern and intelligent production line, with a daily processing capacity of 800 tons and an annual catch of more than 80,000 tons.
Seeing this, you may wonder if Antarctic krill will be caught as an "endangered species" with hundreds of thousands of tons of catches?
Don't worry, there are data showing that the reserves of Antarctic krill in the Antarctic region have reached 650 million tons. The population is so large that it is known as the most successful animal species in the Antarctic region, and even in the world. And their reproductive ability is very strong, female krill can lay 6,000-10,000 eggs each time, maybe the amount of fish caught here is not enough to cover the amount of krill spawning below. You can't finish fishing, you can't finish fishing at all.
In the beginning, in order to increase the population of Antarctic krill, people also intervened with their natural predators, whales. But it was found that it was okay not to intervene, and the number of Antarctic krill was even smaller. It turns out that this is because Antarctic krill are so small, no more than 6 centimeters long, so whales can swallow millions of them in one bite. But whale feces are the best food for Antarctic krill, and they support each other to thrive in the sea.