Antarctic krill catch hits 62,000-tonne limit early for second consecutive year as China's krill industry shifts to value-per-tonne competition

On 12 August 2026, the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) catch in Statistical Area 48 of the South Atlantic reached the precautionary operational trigger level of 62,000 tonnes, forcing the fishing season to close early. This is the second consecutive year the season has ended early, after the same threshold was reached on 1 August 2025. The trigger level is set by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and reaching it early in two consecutive years indicates that the harvesting capacity of the global fleet has reached this regulatory ceiling. China is the world's second-largest Antarctic krill fishing nation.

This assessment comes from a comprehensive industry analysis published by the state-owned Fujian Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd. (FJZY). The group is a strategic player in China's ocean engineering and fisheries sectors and is responsible for the design and systems integration of a new generation of polar processing vessels. The analysis notes that China has already mastered fleet deployment and raw material acquisition capabilities, but the future economic viability of the industry will no longer depend on the number of vessels or total tonnage, but on the economic and functional value that can be extracted from each tonne of biomass harvested.

Since the launch of systematic surveys in 2009, China's krill fishery has evolved from converted distant-water trawlers using intermittent nets to automated polar processing vessels equipped with continuous vacuum pump technology. Continuous pumping transfers krill together with seawater directly from the trawl into the vessel's hold, avoiding crushing of the krill in the net and significantly mitigating the endogenous enzyme autolysis that occurs within minutes of capture—autolysis that degrades krill protein.

In terms of catch data, the global Antarctic krill catch in the 2023/2024 season was 498,350 tonnes, of which Norway accounted for 63% and China for 24% (approximately 120,000 tonnes). CCAMLR aggregated data for the cumulative period from 2015 to 2025 show that Norway accounted for 62.6% of global landings and China for 20.8%.

For the 2025/2026 operating season, six Chinese-flagged krill vessels are listed in the CCAMLR official licence register:

Fuxinghai is operated by Liaoning Fisheries Group, with an investment of nearly RMB 500 million (approximately USD 69.4 million), equipped with continuous pumping and onboard processing systems and a daily processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes. In the early part of the 2024/2025 season, the vessel landed more than 26,000 tonnes and processed more than 8,200 tonnes of deep-processed products, with a single-day peak of 678 tonnes; the phospholipid concentration of the krill oil extracted was close to 60%.

Fuyuanyu 9199 is a processing vessel with a length of 138.8 metres and a gross tonnage of more than 16,500 GT, representing an investment of approximately RMB 600 million (approximately USD 83.3 million), with a designed daily processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes and integrated automated peeling lines, low-temperature drying and protease hydrolysis processes. Land-based logistics will connect to a planned industrial park in Lianjiang, Fuzhou, which involves an investment of RMB 400 million (approximately USD 55.5 million) and a designed annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes.

Yongli is a polar processing vessel from Zhejiang with a daily processing capacity of more than 800 tonnes, focused on frozen krill, functional dietary products, bioactive peptides and oil-based raw materials.

Shenlan has been based in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, since 2022 and had cumulatively harvested and processed more than 143,000 tonnes of Antarctic krill by the end of 2025.

Huaxiang 9 is an active industry asset integrated into the processing and research clusters of Rongcheng and Qingdao in Shandong.

Longfa is a specialised processing vessel listed in the CCAMLR official register.

Distant-water fishing capacity has driven the formation of five major processing clusters along China's coast.

Commercial returns on fresh krill biomass vary depending on the timeliness of onboard processing and quality standards: basic bulk products (krill meal and frozen blocks) provide operating cash flow and throughput but have narrow profit margins; krill meal does not compete as a low-cost substitute for conventional fishmeal, but rather as a functional additive rich in astaxanthin, choline and attractants for high-end aquafeeds and pet food. Food-grade human protein products, by contrast, require advanced technologies such as rapid defluorination (removal of fluoride concentrated in the exoskeleton), immediate enzyme inactivation, flavour stabilisation and allergen control.