Antarctic Peninsula · South Orkney Islands · Active Operation
Exposing the
Krill Fleet
Industrial supertrawlers are draining the food supply every whale, penguin and seal depends on. Sea Shepherd crews are there to document it.
- Tonnes of krill caught in 2025, the most ever
- 624,918
- Years running the fishery hit its limit early
- 2
- Krill trawlers licensed to fish in 2026
- 14
Sea Shepherd / The Crisis
Stripping the Food Web
Krill are the foundation of everything alive in the Southern Ocean. Industrial fleets are taking them at a scale that threatens the whole ecosystem.
Sea Shepherd spent more than a decade in Antarctic waters confronting the illegal Japanese whaling fleet, a campaign that ended in victory. The threat has changed. Where harpoons once decimated whale populations, krill supertrawlers now take the food those recovering whales depend on.
The fleets work the same waters where humpbacks and fin whales feed, competing with them for the same prey. In 2025 a humpback was confirmed killed in a krill net, and sea ice loss is squeezing krill from the other side.
The catch limitThe fishery closes for the season when catches reach 620,000 tonnes. The fleet hit that mark early for the first time on August 1, 2025, and again on August 12, 2026.
Primary zone · Antarctic Peninsula
Gerlache Strait
One of the most important whale feeding areas in the Southern Ocean. Proposed protections have faced repeated opposition at international bodies.
Active front · Scotia Sea
South Orkney Islands
A marine protected area lies here, and the krill fleet concentrates in the feeding grounds just outside it where whales and seabirds forage.
Sea Shepherd / Krill
What Depends on Krill
- 01
Whales
Humpback, blue, minke and right whales feed on krill swarms to fuel their migrations and raise their calves.
- 02
Penguins
Adelie, chinstrap and emperor penguins forage close to their colonies, right where the trawlers work.
- 03
Seabirds
Albatrosses and petrels depend on krill directly and on the fish and squid that eat it.
- 04
Seals, squid and fish
Remove krill and the food web does not just lose a link. It loses its foundation.
Sea Shepherd / The Toll
A Toll on Wildlife
When krill is taken close to breeding grounds, the animals that depend on it are the first to pay.
Antarctic fur seals
57%
fewer adults since 1999, down from about 2.2 million to 944,000. Mothers now travel too far from breeding beaches to find food. Listed as Endangered in 2026.
Emperor penguins
3years
of near-total breeding failure at the second largest emperor penguin colony on Earth.
Southern right whales
23%
decline in the body condition of mothers over three decades, leaving less energy to raise healthy calves.
Sea Shepherd / The Fleet
The Supertrawlers
Krill supertrawlers are floating factories built to catch as much krill as physically possible, flagged to a handful of nations and fitted with trawl nets that capture vast quantities at once.
Humpback whales were dragged down and killed in these nets in 2021 and 2022, and another whale died in a krill net in 2025. Norwegian and Chinese vessels now take nearly nine of every ten tonnes.
Sea Shepherd / The Threat
What Threatens It
- 01
Industrial extraction
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes a year come out of the same feeding grounds used by whales, penguins, seals and seabirds.
- 02
Whales killed in nets
Trawls work in active feeding areas. The true toll in these remote waters is likely higher than what gets reported.
- 03
A warming ocean
Sea ice loss is already shrinking krill habitat. Industrial fishing on top of it is a squeeze krill cannot absorb forever.
- 04
Transfers at sea
Fleets refuel and offload at sea, staying on the grounds longer with less oversight.
- 05
Blocked protections
Protected areas for key feeding grounds keep getting blocked by nations with krill interests, and in 2025 no new limits were agreed.
- 06
Consumer demand
The fishery exists because there is a market. Every krill oil supplement and krill-based feed keeps the trawlers working.
Sea Shepherd / On the Water
What Our Crews Do
While the fleets work the feeding grounds, our crews are in the same waters, documenting, researching and building the case for protection.
Fleet documentation
Tracking, photographing and filming trawlers in whale feeding grounds to build the record for policy change.
Whale research
Scientists from Stanford, UC Santa Cruz and the University of Pretoria sailed in 2026, identifying whales by photo across the study area.
Working together
Sea Shepherd groups in Germany, Switzerland and beyond join forces for the largest combined Antarctic campaign to date.
Policy and retail pressure
Evidence from the water goes to international bodies and to the companies still selling krill products.
Sea Shepherd / Results
Building the Case
Four seasons of evidence from the Southern Ocean, and retailers are starting to listen.
-
2023 to 2026 Allankay
4seasons
in Antarctic waters documenting the krill fleet, from the Peninsula to the South Orkney Islands.
-
2025 CCAMLR
624,918t
of krill caught, the most ever recorded, closing the fishery early for the first time.
-
2026 South Orkneys
1,000
whales counted in a single feeding group by scientists aboard the Allankay.
-
2026 RetailNow
80%+
of German drugstores have dropped krill products, and Australia's two largest supermarkets have too. Our 2025 documentation helped persuade Holland & Barrett to stop selling krill.
2years running the fishery hit its limit early
CCAMLR, 2025 and 2026
Sea Shepherd / Take Action
Stand Up for Krill
Two ways to fight back, whether you shop for krill products or sell them.
For individuals
Tell a retailer to drop krill
Find a store near you that still sells krill and send its team a letter in seconds. Every message shows retailers their customers are watching.
Send a LetterFor companies
Take the Antarctic Krill Pledge
If your business sells supplements, pet food or omega-3 products, commit to keeping krill-derived ingredients off your shelves.
Take the PledgeSea Shepherd / Gallery
From the Southern Ocean
Sea Shepherd / Antarctica
Keep the Allankay on Station
Every season in the Southern Ocean takes fuel, a skilled crew and scientists on board. Your gift keeps the Allankay documenting the krill fleet and building the case for protection.
1,000 whales in one feeding group, 2026
Give every month and join the Direct Action Crew. Other ways to give: stock, DAF, crypto and more.
