As we speed across the frigid Southern Ocean, albatross and penguins wheel and dive around us. Whale blows start appearing all over the horizon. Then out of the light morning fog they appear: two hulking shapes, that even though they are still miles away, already seem huge. Steam and smoke billow off them as they motor forwards. They are krill super trawlers. These two are part of the Chinese fleet, the Shen Lan and the Long Fa.
We head towards the Shen Lan. This is China’s newest krill vessel and at 130 metres long, it is the same size as the infamous Antarctic whaling vessel, the Nishin Maru. Except rather than targeting the ocean’s largest creatures, the Shen Lan is targeting one of the smallest.
Arriving at the Shen Lan, despite knowing it well in my mind, from pictures and reports, I am still taken aback. It is simply monstrous. It looks more like a cruise ship than a fishing trawler. The only giveaway is that, out of the gaping slipway that is the vessel’s stern, a giant net disappears into the sea.
Straight away, the Shen Lan starts to pull in their nets. We are here to document and expose this destructive fishery, and the vessels do not want to be photographed fishing. They pick up speed and start heading toward another two trawlers.
It was here that we witnessed something that the krill industry doesn’t want anyone to see. These two trawlers, the Antarctic Endeavour from Chile and the Sejong from South Korea, were trawling right through a megapod of up to 200 fin whales. These whales congregate here because, just like these industrial trawlers, they are seeking krill.
These trawlers were using the megapod to find the krill. It looked as if the trawlers deliberately steered through the pod, knowing that there would be krill there.
This is why this fishery is so destructive, they fish in areas where wildlife, like whales, penguinsand seals, expect to find food, as they have done for millennia.
As whale populations recover after the ending of commercial whaling in Antarctica, the krill industry is rising to take its place. And the impacts of this were on full display.
Sitting in a small 6-metre boat, surrounded by penguins, whales, and seabirds, I have rarely seen such a wild and alive patch of ocean. Whale blows as far as the eye could see. Chinstrap penguinschattering noisily in the water. Cape Petrels, Antarctic Prions and Southern Petrels clamberingbehind the trawlers, while the ever-majestic albatross soared over the tips of the waves. It is clear evidence of why Antarctica and the Southern Ocean should be afforded total protection. With a heart-wrenching sadness, this scene was shattered as a supertrawler, spewing the bright orange discharge of boiled and ground krill chugged by us.
Straight away, the Shen Lan starts to pull in their nets. We are here to document and expose this destructive fishery, and the vessels do not want to be photographed fishing. They pick up speed and start heading toward another two trawlers.
We will be in the krill fishing grounds for a long time. I hope to show the world that this fishery has no place in Antarctica, one of the planet Earth’s last great wild places.
Stay tuned to find out what you can do to help protect Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
These trawlers were using the megapod to find the krill. It looked as if the trawlers deliberately steered through the pod, knowing that there would be krill there.
Bob Brown Foundation is funded by the generosity of people like you. Your support powers our campaigns to protect wild nature and take Action for Earth.
We recognise First Nations as the custodians of land and water across Australia and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded.
© Bob Brown Foundation | All rights reserved | Privacy policy