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Market for Antarctic krill products

 

There are no recent studies on the economics of krill fisheries, although it is known that high costs are generally associated to fishing for krill. More information needs to be developed on the current and potential markets for krill products in order to better understand future trends in the krill fishery (CCAMLR 2002).

 

There is an increasing demand for Antarctic krill as aquaculture feed, particularly for salmon farms.

Recent analysis of the fishery and the market for krill products has detected signals that an expansion of the Antarctic krill fishery might be about to happen. The main driving factor is an expected increase in the demand for krill products, particularly for aquaculture feeds but also for pharmaceutical uses (Nicol & Foster 2003).

 

The development of krill products for aquaculture and medical uses present the greatest increases in later years, an indication that demand for these products is increasing. For example, 87.5% of krill patents for medical products have been filed after 1988 (Nicol & Foster 2003).

 

Krill - food for human consumption 

Antarctic krill is also used in the production of food for human consumption, although it has been noted that information on this kind of products from nations other than Japan is not generally available. Approximately 40% of the Japanese Antarctic krill catch is processed for human consumption as boiled frozen krill or peeled krill tail frozen in blocks on board.  In the past, canned tail meat was also produced from the Japanese catch but not any longer (Nicol et al. 2000).

 

The main krill product for human consumption is frozen krill tail meat, which consists of the cooked and peeled tail meat of krill, frozen at sea.  It has been marketed as a very nutritional organic seafood product with a mild taste, similar to lobster, rich in Omega 3 oils, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.  It can be used in pizzas, seafood salads, soups, and restaurant entrees (Sclabos 2003). There have also been some reports on the marketing of “Antarctic Krill Concentrate” as health food supplement prepared from peeled, freeze-dried tail meat (Nicol et al. 2000).

 

Chitin and Chitosan

A steady development of krill products for non-nutritional uses -such as pharmaceutical and industrial uses - has been documented. Main applications are the production of chitin and chitosan from krill shells and krill enzymes for pharmaceutical and other purposes.  Chitin and its substance-derived chitosan have a wide variety of current and potential uses, from loudspeakers membranes to cholesterol lowering products.  Krill oils have also been described as an expanding market in the lucrative nutriceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields (Nicol & Foster 2003).

 

Krill’s powerful hydrolytic enzymes have an interesting potential for pharmaceutical uses, such as the production of chemonucleolytic agents or debriding agents for the treatment of necrotic wounds.  Research programs have succeeded in the identification of a single enzyme from krill, which may lay the basis for the development of drugs for the treatment of several types of infections.  Moreover, krill enzymes may also be used in the restoration of works of art, which adds up to the potential of krill-derived high-value products (Nicol et al. 2000).

 

Krill for aquaculture feed

There is a view that demand for these products may not develop to the point where they become a major economic justification for krill fishing, even though they might result in high-value by-products that contribute to the profitability of the fishery (Nicol et al. 2000).

 

The use of krill for aquaculture feed seems to be the most important market development that is triggering investments in krill harvesting. Aquaculture, especially salmon farming, lacks sufficient feed supply. The fish farming industry already uses up around 75% of the world’s fish oil and around 40% of the world’s fish meal.  By 2010, these figures might go up to 90% and 56% respectively, according to predictions by the International Fish Meal and Fish Oil Manufacturers Association (IFOMA).  FAO has indicated that by 2010, farmed salmon and trout alone could consume 620,000 tonnes of fish oil (Staniford 2002). With demand exceeding supply and rising prices, fish oil has been labelled “the new blue gold” (Staniford 2001).

 

This lack of supply, along with increasing concerns over contaminants in aquaculture feeds, is leading the industry to urgently seek feeding alternatives.  Krill demand is likely to increase due to its excellent value as nutrient source for farmed fish and crustaceans (protein, energy, essential amino acids). Other outstanding properties of krill are its natural pigment content (particularly appropriate for salmon farming), its palatability, its low content of pollutants, and its likely improvement of larval fish survival.  These attributes make krill a more attractive feed than potential competitors such as squid meal, clam meal, artemia soluble, and fish soluble (Sclabos 2003). 

Another attribute that is likely to increase krill’s potential is its high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acid, which increases the natural Omega 3 content of farmed fish fed with diets containing krill (Sclabos and Toro 2003).

 

 

In summary, the demand for high quality aquaculture feeds, and in particular as a protein source for salmon farms, might raise the profitability of krill fishing considerably.  Furthermore, increasing restrictions to access to krill fisheries in the Northern Hemisphere –fuelled by opposition to expanding krill fishing from local fishing industries, fishery managers and conservation groups- is very likely to intensify pressure on Southern Ocean krill stocks.  Antarctic waters are the most obvious source for krill (Nicol & Foster 2003).  In light of these developments, an expansion of the Antarctic krill fishery seems inevitable.

 

 

 

 

Literatur:

  • CCAMLR. 2002. Report of the Twenty-First Meeting of the Commission, Hobart, Australia, 21 October - 1 November 2002.
  • Nicol, S, Forster, I., Spence, J.  2000. Products derived from krill. In: Krill: Biology, Ecology and Fisheries – (I. Everson, eds.) Fish and Aquatic Resources, Series 6. Blackwell Science, Oxford: 262- 283.
  • Nicol, S., Foster, J. 2003. Recent trends in the fishery for Antarctic krill.  Aquat. Living Resour. 16: 42-45.
  • Sclabos, D. 2003. The Krill. Available at: Aquafeed
  • Sclabos, D. and Toro, R. 2003. Natural Foods through marine krill meal. Available at: Aquafeed 
  • Staniford, D. 2001. Cage Rage: an inquiry is needed into Scottish fish farming. The Ecologist, 22/10/2001.
  • Staniford, D. 2002. A big fish in a small pond: the global environmental and public health threat of sea cage fish farming. Paper presented at “Sustainability of the Salmon Industry in Chile and the World". Workshop organized by the Terram Foundation and Universidad de los Lagos in Puerto Montt, Chile, 5-6 June 2002.

 

 

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