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KRILL FISHING

Help stop the foundation of the Antarctic ecosystem ending up as supplements on our shelves.

Antarctica needs our help

Industrial trawlers are plundering krill from the Southern Ocean while whales, penguins and seals go without. Add your voice, read the evidence, get involved.

Tell Swisse: Stop Krilling Antarctica

It's time to end krill fishing

Read our reports

Help protect antarctica

Out of the mist emerges a fleet of industrial supertrawlers up to 150m long, ploughing through pods of whales as they feed. They are threatening one of the world’s last beloved wild places to create unnecessary health supplements, pet food and fish farm feed.  

Krill are small crustaceans that sustain every species in Antarctica’s Southern Ocean: penguins, seals, whales, seabirds and more. The very foundation of the Antarctic ecosystem is being hauled out of the ocean at a terrifying rate, with supertrawlers killing whales in their nets as penguins desperately jump out of the way.

Antarctica is suffering under the pressure of climate change. Sea ice is melting at rates we’ve never seen before, penguin populations are plummeting and whale pregnancy rates are dropping.

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of all krill caught goes to feed farmed fish

In the summer of 2022/23, the Bob Brown Foundation travelled to Antarctica with Sea Shepherd Global to document and expose the plunder of krill in the Southern Ocean.

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is used to create krill oil supplements, sold in almost every single pharmacy across Australia.

Considered a ‘clean’ source of omega-3s due to being caught in the pristine waters of Antarctica, these supplements have a dark origin.  

The krill economy

Every tonne pulled from the Southern Ocean ends up in one of two places, and neither is as clean as it looks.

The growth of the krilling industry

Industrial super trawlers are hooving more than three times the amount of krill out of waters surrounding Antarctica than they did nearly two decades ago.

The previous 2025 season forced an historic early closure on August 1, 2025, after maxing out the 620,000-tonne annual trigger limit.

Area 48 catch rose from under 1,000 tonnes in 1973 to over 620,000 tonnes in 2025. Areas 58 and 88 saw brief spikes in the 1980s then dropped to near zero.

Which countries are plundering Antarctica

14 supertrawlers from Norway, China, Ukraine, South Korea and Chile fish right in the critical wildlife feeding grounds, 24/7, 365 days of the year. Norway leads the charge, catching two thirds of the annual catch.

Norway 65%, China 15%, South Korea 13%, Chile and Ukraine combined 7%.

Aker Biomarine

The company monopolising the krill fishing industry is Norway’s AkerBiomarine. 

They are pushing harder and faster than ever, seeking to double the annual krill catch to 1.2 million tonnes. Their extensive ‘sustainability’ manoeuvres, such as calling for supposed marine protection, are at complete odds with their growth plans and are simply a smokescreen to legitimise their destructive operations happening out of sight True marine protection means removing harmful human activities, not increasing them.  

With 76% of retailers and suppliers using krill in Australia and New Zealand, Bob Brown Foundation is calling for:

1

An immediate ban on krill fishing.

2

Retailers, feed producers and fish farms to stop the use of wild-caught fish for aquaculture, including krill.

3

Retailers to immediately stop stocking krill dietary supplements.

4

Consumers to stop using krill supplements and to demand their farmed seafood be krill-free.

Take action

The fate of Antarctica’s marine environment is in the hands of 29 countries that meet every October .

Event

Take action at CCAMLR

Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026
CCAMLR
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Online action

Tell Swisse: Stop krilling Antarctica

Help us reach our target of 5,000 signatures
Learn more
Direct action

Stick it to Swisse

Sign up here to receive an action pack with stickers to affix to Swisse krill oil bottles.

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Online action

End krill fishing

Help us reach our target of 5,000 signatures
Learn more