Are your supplements killing Antarctica’s wild animals?

Fishing vessels travel across the world to drain the Southern Ocean of krill, jeopardizing the lives of megafauna who rely on the Antarctic’s rich bounty for survival. The surprising reason? Omega-3 supplements.

Krill make up the backbone of the Antarctic ecosystem. These small, shrimp-like zooplankton provide life-sustaining nutrients to predators in a polar desert. Megafauna such as penguins, baleen whales, seals, and seabirds consume about 80 million tons of krill annually, supplying 96 percent of total caloric intake for some species.

2024 was a prolific year for the Antarctic krill fishery: Norwegian, Chinese, and South Korean boats vacuumed 500,000 tons of krill out of the Southern Ocean. 2025 is an even worse year for krill: For the first time in history, officials have shut down the fishery because the catch limit of 620,000 tons of krill has already been exceeded, five months prior to the scheduled closure of the season. The volume of krill already caught this year indicates a massive surge in krill fishing trends.

Although krill are not typically fit for human consumption due their high levels of fluorine, the market has discovered exceedingly inventive ways to exploit them. Krill meat has long been used in cat and dog food and as aquaculture feed, but the conversion of krill into oil for Omega-3 supplements has become a gold rush in the past decade, and the global market for krill products is estimated to reach $3.6 billion by 2036.

The super trawlers hunting krill are capable of harvesting more than 1,000 tons of krill per day. They follow whales to identify krill swarms, placing vessels in direct competition with predators over their food source. Shrinking prey populations means increasing threats to these mammals, including endangered sei and blue whales.

Declining krill supply and fishing practices present a plenitude of threats to Antarctic megafauna. A study in 2020 found that Antarctic krill fishing currently exceeds the level at which predator populations can remain stable, negatively impacting penguins in particular. A 2023 paper also found a correlation between shrinking krill supply in the Antarctic and reduced reproductive rates in humpback whales. Collisions with super trawlers and entanglement in nets also present big risks to whales; two humpback whales died in the Antarctic last year after becoming entangled in krill fishing nets.

States can and have individually taken measures to deter and prevent the expansion of krill fishing, both in the Southern Ocean and in their territorial waters. The U.S. banned krill fishing 200 nautical miles off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California in 2009 due to concerns about impacts on whales and seals. In early 2024, the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) established fishing prohibitions across 64,000 square miles of its existing Marine Protected Area (MPA), bringing its total no-take zone to 173,000 square miles. It also implemented a krill-specific fishing ban across 6,600 square miles of its MPA, although fishing of other animals is allowed at certain depths. Currently, only 10 percent of Antarctic waters are open to krill fishing.

While the creation of additional MPAs throughout the Southern Ocean could slow down the krill fishery, it also has the potential to increase pressure on krill in permitted fishing areas. The best practice for deterring krill fishing is likely reducing demand for Omega-3 supplements, which starts with education and daily choices by individuals (such as choosing plant-based Omega-3 supplements).

About the Authors:

Ally Grimaldi is the 2024 GLA Diehl Fellow. She is a 2024 JD graduate of the Environmental and Animal Law programs at Lewis & Clark Law School. As a student, Ally participated in Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (GLA), the Animal Law Review, and the Women’s Law Caucus. She interned with Phoenix Zones Initiative and worked on a project where she strategized legal pathways for the advancement of a Belmont Report for animal research.

Clinical Professor Erica Lyman has over fifteen years of experience in international environmental law, with a strong focus on wildlife protection issues. She is the Director of GLA. Launched in the fall of 2020, GLA is an innovative collaboration of the Center for Animal Law Studies and the top-ranked Environmental Law Program at Lewis & Clark Law School. GLA champions wild animals and wild spaces around the world. Law students (JD and LLM) actively participate in GLA’s work for academic credit. She also teaches Global Wild Animal Law in the online Animal Law advanced degree program.

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.