Antarctic krill harvesting worries expert

Press, 22 September 1984, Page 6

Antarctic krill harvesting worries expert

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

Too little is known about the krill in the Antarctic Ocean to begin commercial harvesting, according to Dr, Keith Thompson, of the Antarctic Research Unit at the University of Waikato. Dr Thompson said that the implications of krill harvesting in the Antarctic, and of oil drilling too, gave cause for serious concern Insufficient information was available to permit sensible plans to manage the krill, or those predators dependent on it "It is rash to embark on a harvesting programme before the implications of depleting the food supplies of various whales, seals, and penguins has been evaluated fully,” Dr Thompson said. It was also foolish to contemplate oil exploration until the effects of leakage from under the ice had been investigated fully and techniques developed to contain and clean up spillages. The ecological effects of a minor oil spillage or of a pilot programme of com-

mercial harvesting of krill, should not be underestimated, he said. It was no longer appropriate to say that “technology will cope.” “It is simply not known' whether it can do so,” Dr Thompson said. “The days of trial-and-error management are gone and all commercial enterprises must now be fully justified in ecological terms and over a time scale of at least 50 to 100 years. “Commercial exploitation is possible but it cannot possibly be easy,” he said.