Whales are recovering from near extinction, but industrial fishing within the Antarctic is competing for his or her only source of food

The Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica, is the World's largest feeding area for baleen whales – Species corresponding to Humpback whales which filter tiny organisms from the seawater to search out food. In the twentieth century, whalers killed around 2 million large whales within the Southern OceanSome populations, corresponding to the Antarctic blue whalehave been reduced by greater than 99% and are struggling to get well, although most countries ended business whaling Mid-Eighties.

Today, a brand new threat is emerging: industrial fishing Antarctic krill – tiny swimming crustaceansabout 60 millimeters long. In a newly published studyColleagues and I noticed that competition from this burgeoning fishery could hinder whales’ recovery.

I first learned about this problem in early 2022 when a Colleague worked on board a cruise ship, told me that he had about 1,000 Fin whales ate up krill near the South Orkney Islands, north of Antarctica. This was probably the biggest gathering of baleen whales for the reason that Nineteen Thirtiesat the peak of commercial whaling.

My friend also reported that 4 huge fishing boats between the large whaleswith large nets. Like whales, they fished for Antarctic krill.

Because the Southern Ocean is so distant, few people were aware that krill fishing is in direct competition with whaling. Together with colleagues from Stanford and the University of Washington, we wrote about this statement in 2023 to boost awareness of the potential threat to recovering populations.

We were soon contacted by Sea Shepard Globala non-profit organization dedicated to protecting marine animals that has been monitoring this case for several years, reported that there is commonly direct overlap between whales' foraging activities and energetic fishing activities.

Now krill fishing is about to expand. Along the Antarctic Peninsula, the fishing industry has proposed increasing the catch quota fourfold. from 155,000 tonnes to 668,101 tonnes yearly.

Almost the entire catch is used to provide two products: fishmeal for aquaculture and omega-3 supplements. Most of the fishmeal is fed to farmed salmon, which develop their well-known pink color. from eating food.

At the identical time, whales compete with fishing boats for his or her only source of food. Whales forage for food for about 100 days a yr; depending on the species, an adult whale can eat 1 to six tons of krill per day.

Most baleen whales use a technique called Lunge feeding: They swim quickly towards a college of krill and open their huge mouths at just the appropriate moment. They then close their jaws and force the seawater out through the bristly baleen of their mouth, filtering the krill from the water.

This behavior consumes a number of energy, so the whales goal large, dense schools of krill – and so do fishing boats. From 2021 to 2023 4 humpback whales died after becoming entangled in krill fishing nets.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resourcesa world organisation that manages the usage of the Southern Ocean, must be sure that whales and other krill-dependent populations should not harmed by fishing. However, the Commission works by consensus, so nothing changes if a member state rejects a measure.

The Member States have Stalled proposals to create marine protected areas within the Southern Ocean and to manage krill fishing more strictly. A coalition is pushing for stricter limits, but Russia and China resistedOur work shows that the delicate recovery of baleen whales may very well be halted and even reversed if Antarctic krill fishing is expanded without strong safeguards to guard wildlife.