Antarctic krill fishery renews MSC certification with three conditions, valid until November 2031

The Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) fishery has obtained renewal of its certification under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, certificate number MSC-F-31191, issued by LRQA (Seafood) Limited on 12 November 2026 and valid until 11 November 2031. The certified operating area is Area 48, the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean.

The certificate covers the operations of three companies: Aker QRILL Company of Norway, Pesca Chile S.A. of Chile, and Jeong Il Corporation of South Korea. Aker BioMarine, which uses krill supplied by QRILL to produce raw materials, confirmed the renewal on 13 November, noting that the renewal carries two new conditions and one condition that has remained outstanding since 2022.

The two new conditions point to managing fishing at a finer spatial scale and strengthening decision-making in the face of the risk that fishing concentrates in areas of high krill abundance. Their objective is to protect animals that feed in the same waters, especially the food availability of baleen whales. The outstanding condition requires the development of a harvest strategy within the framework of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a scheme that must adjust operations when krill populations change or when the risks facing species that feed on them rise.

The regulatory background illustrates the scale of the issue. CCAMLR has set a combined threshold of 620,000 tonnes per season for the four subareas 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4, a quantity covering the catch of all fleets operating in these subareas, including fishing by vessels outside the certified group. Conservation Measure 51-07, which had allocated this threshold as subarea caps, expired after the 2024 fishing season. Its non-renewal is also recorded in Argentine Resolution No. 91/2026, which incorporates the CCAMLR measures for 2025/2026. Since then, catches have been constrained only by the combined threshold, with no such geographical allocation.

The reassessment began in 2025. MSC registry information shows that the draft for public consultation was published in November of that year, and the certification recommendation was made in February 2026. The QRILL fishery has been in the programme since 2010. Objections from the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and WWF UK triggered a process that included the involvement of an independent adjudicator and an investigation by Assurance Services International (ASI), which oversees the system's assessment bodies. LRQA carried out the assessment in accordance with the standards set by MSC. ASI published its report on 6 November, and the closure of the objection process and the public certification report were recorded on 12 November. The review allowed the renewal to proceed and incorporated additional requirements on the ecosystem impact of fishing.

LRQA's final draft, dated February 2026, lists six fishing vessels within the scope of assessment: Antarctic Endurance, Antarctic Sea and Saga Sea of Norway, Antarctic Endeavour of Chile, and Sae In Leader and Sae In Champion of South Korea. The list corresponds to the vessels examined in the above documents. Antarctic Provider is listed as QRILL's transport and transshipment vessel. The documents record that its product is discharged in Montevideo, with operations sailing to Haugesund, Norway. For Pesca Chile, the documents list discharge in Punta Arenas; for Jeong Il, they list transshipment to South Korea and Japan. The output is used to supply raw materials for omega-3 supplements and aquafeed products.

Aker BioMarine published the scores from the reassessment: 86.7 out of 100 for sustainability of the exploited population, 88.7 for environmental impact, and 93.5 for fisheries management. All three averages exceed the 80-point threshold the standard requires for each principle. The measures examined include 100% scientific observer coverage on trips and a catch limit that MSC states is about 1% of the estimated biomass in the region. Techniques aimed at reducing bycatch were also among those assessed. QRILL voluntarily invests in research and monitoring and participates in the sectoral closure around penguin colonies during the breeding season. These initiatives supplement the conservation obligations set by CCAMLR.

Ongoing oversight will continue through annual independent audits. These reviews must verify progress on the three conditions and compliance with their respective deadlines in order to maintain certification during the new certification period.