Krill may be smaller than your pinky finger, swimming among the vast Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean but the "pink gold" is the new superstar of the $US30 billion supplements industry driving Australian companies like Blackmores, Swisse Vitamins and Pharmacare's Nature's Way, as the ageing population juices up on omega-3 and fish oil to stave off disease.
Twenty five countries including Australia, Russia and China will join leading krill harvesters in Hobart this week to renegotiate the rules of the game for catch limits and harvest zones as environmental groups step up their campaign to protect the small, shrimp-like crustacean which lives in large schools known as swarms of up to 30,000 off Australia's southern doorstep.
US studies claim that Omega-3 deficiency kills more people each year than breast cancer and the supplement can tackle heart, brain and eye health, as well as immunity and inflammatory issues. While krill oil contains less omega-3 than fish oil, it is thought to be more easily absorbed and avoids any "fishy" aftertaste. The "krill craze" has triggered triple digit sales growth since 2012 and $200 million in Australian sales each year as celebrities like Jennifer Aniston spruik the benefits.
"People generally have way too low Omega-3 levels," said Cilia Indahl, sustainability director for Norway's Aker BioMarine, the world's largest krill harvester which supplies a number of Australian companies including Blackmores. "You have to eat fatty fish three times a week but not all fatty fish has the good Omga-3s that you want, so most of us need a supplement," she tells AFR Weekend in Melbourne on her way to the pow-wow in Hobart.
The popularity of the $US3 billion Omega-3 fatty acid market has driven a boom in the annual krill catch which has tripled from the 1990s to close to 300,000 tonnes each year with plans by China and Russia for massive expansion. Environmental groups claim penguins, seals and whales in the Southern Ocean are being threatened by the declining krill population which is being accelerated by melting Antarctic sea ice.
New Gold Rush
Ms Indahl admits the "krill craze" has triggered something of a "gold rush" but said the harsh Antarctic conditions meant only the most dedicated fisheries have survived.
"When krill fisheries started to catch on, there was a lot of interest in it, it was looked upon as a new sort of gold mine, it is a high value product but a lot of people tried and didn't succeed, so we are seeing more countries give up because it is such a harsh environment, the weather down there makes it very difficult to achieve at a financially viable scale. I think the only reason we have managed is we have put in a lot of investment into sustainable fishing technology," Ms Indahl said.
There is an increasing push by companies and consumers for greater transparency around sustainable fishing practices with environmental groups complaining the "highly-efficient krill fishing vessels vacuum the ocean for krill and process it onboard".
Blackmores wasn't prepared to offer a Krill Oil product until it had sent its Quality & Sourcing Manager on a two-week voyage with Aker BioMarine to observe their fishing practices first hand. Eleven companies currently hold quotas to fish krill and six are part of the organisation for responsible fishing.
"It's our biggest challenge. It's the thing that keeps me awake at night," Blackmores CEO Christine Holgate has said about their supply chains.
Ms Indahl said the total fishing limit for krill is set at 1 per cent of their total biomass, compared with 10 per cent for other fish species which is considered a "highly precautionary" safeguard. The big debate over the next fortnight will be around which areas are fished and the push by environmental groups for no-take zones.
"In the Antarctic there are four areas of krill fisheries along the peninsula," she said. "In the four areas you have percentages of how much you can take from each area, so the second safety net [beyond catch limits] is to make sure the fishing is not concentrated in one area, so it is spread around the total fishing area which is twice the size of the US," Ms Indahl said. "That second safety net goes on for two or four years at a time and it expires now so it has to be renewed, that is one of the concerns this year. The other question is on marine protected areas, leaving some areas as no take areas to leave a reference point for researchers," she said.
