"Yes, the number of Antarctic krill is indeed terrifyingly large," said Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang has conducted special research on Antarctic krill.
Antarctic krill have extremely strong reproductive capacity, strong ability to adapt to the environment, and an extremely abundant food source.
Although individual Antarctic krill are very small, female Antarctic krill can lay more than 6,000 eggs each time, and can lay eggs multiple times every year.
Young Antarctic krill also grow very fast.
"More than 300 million tons are consumed every year, but the amount has never decreased. This is such a huge piece of cake. my country is also a major fishing country, so how could we not come in and have a share of the pie?" Gao Chuang exclaimed.
Xiang Yang's expression gradually became more serious when he heard this.
There is actually enough food in the world now, but the distribution is extremely uneven. Even if all the Antarctic krill were caught, people in the world would still starve to death.
As the world's most populous country, if my country does not fight for such a big piece of the pie, then there will undoubtedly be an uneven distribution of food.
Over the past few decades, Antarctic krill fishing has gone through three periods.
In the first stage, the Soviet Union and the Dongyi were the main fishing countries, with the Soviet Union accounting for 93% of the catch, ranking first. The period with the highest krill catch was 1983, when more than 500,000 tons of krill were caught in the Antarctic Waters!
At that time, the Soviet Union had the world's largest Antarctic krill fishing fleet and occupied the leading position in krill for nearly twenty years!
In the second stage, from the disintegration of the former Soviet Union to the end of the last century, fishing countries began to differentiate, mainly Dongyi, Chile, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and other countries. Dongyi became a rising star among these fishing countries, with a share of 80%, a new sweep of Antarctica.
Since 1993, a large number of advanced fishing vessels have joined the Dongyi Antarctic Ocean fishing fleet, and the proportion of Antarctic krill catches has increased dramatically. However, due to the disintegration of the country, the original state-owned fishing fleet was divided and privatized, and the Antarctic krill catch output also dropped significantly, and was gradually dominated by the emerging Dongyi!
However, compared with the Soviet Union back then, the krill caught by the Dongyi people were less than one-fifth of what the Soviet people caught back then, which is about less than 100,000 tons!
The third stage is from the beginning of 2000 to the present.
South Korea, Norway, the United States and my country have been added to the fishing countries.
Among them, Norway is worth mentioning. Since 2006, Dongyi's ocean fishing fleet has been aging and its production capacity has declined, while Norway is a rising star. They have invested a lot of money in the research and development of krill fishing equipment, which has led to a breakthrough in production!
Currently, Norway holds the top spot in Antarctic krill fishing.
Although Norway's annual krill catch hovers between 100,000 and 200,000 tons, this output already accounts for 50% of the world's krill catch.
my country joined the Antarctic krill fishing movement very late.
It was not until 2014 that my country was included in the Antarctic krill fishing rankings.
Although some people from my country officially joined the Antarctic krill fishing army in 2013 and successfully caught a batch of Antarctic krill and brought them back to the country, the number was really too insignificant.
my country's first commercial fishing in Antarctica was in 2014.
Although my country started late, the growth of fishing volume is relatively rapid.
From 30,000 tons in 2014, it reached 60,000 tons in 2016, doubling in just two years.
Of course, this is only a fraction of Norway's, but such a growth rate shows our country's determination to utilize Antarctic resources!
The number of fishing vessels capable of catching krill in the Southern Ocean has increased from one in 2012 to five in 2015. On November 24, 2019, the Deep Blue, independently designed and built by my country, joined the Antarctic krill fishing team, adding a new member to the Antarctic krill fishing army!
The Deep Blue has a total length of approximately 120 meters, a beam of 21.60 meters, a designed draft of 7.3 meters, a designed speed of 15 knots, and a carrying capacity of an astonishing 5,000 tons. It can meet the operational requirements of an ice thickness of 0.8 meters and a low temperature environment of minus 25 degrees Celsius!
Therefore, although my country may be late in the competition for strategic resources in Antarctica, it will certainly not be absent.
"I understand. I'll go back now and ask everyone to start catching Antarctic krill." After Xiang Yang said this to Gao Chuang, he turned around and prepared to leave.
"etc."
"Is there anything else?" Xiang Yang asked puzzledly.
"Although Antarctic krill is now a kind of seafood that is supported by local policies in Longcheng, and not only can it be sold for money after catching it, but also a certain subsidy can be received, but if that is the reason, there are krill everywhere in Antarctica, why do I have to go to the Weddell Sea to catch them?" said Gao Chuang.
Xiang Yang said without thinking: "Of course the Antarctic krill in the Weddell Sea are the most abundant, huh? No, could it be that the krill in the Weddell Sea are different from the krill in other places?"
"That's right. In the entire Antarctic waters, there are several kinds of shrimps that can be called krill, including Antarctic krill, crystal krill, cold krill and long-fronted cherry krill. The krill we caught before are basically Antarctic krill." Gao Chuang said.
Xiang Yang nodded. He knew about Antarctic krill.
Antarctic krill are mainly concentrated in the Southern Ocean. When the density is high, there are more than 30,000 krill per cubic meter. They generally live in shallow waters within about 200 meters!
The reason why Xiang Yang was reluctant to catch too many Antarctic krill was because Antarctic krill live in an ultra-low temperature environment. The enzymes in their bodies can work efficiently at low temperatures, but at relatively high temperatures, the krill tissue will dissolve quickly.
The shells of Antarctic krill contain relatively high levels of fluoride, so over time, it is easy for the fluoride to mix into the shrimp meat. Therefore, Antarctic krill is not suitable for direct consumption and must be processed directly into finished products on the fishing boat, which is a very troublesome step. Otherwise, it can only be dragged back and used as fish feed.
"The reason why I am determined to come to the Weddell Sea despite the danger is that the Weddell Sea is rich in long-fronted krill," said Gao Chuang.
"Long-fronted krill?" Xiang Yang asked in confusion, "Is there any difference between this kind of krill and ordinary Antarctic krill?"
"There is a huge difference. The tissues inside the long-fronted cherry krill will not be destroyed by enzymes. Even if this kind of krill is pulled back, it can be eaten directly after peeling the shell," said Gao Chuang.
Xiang Yang's eyes lit up immediately when he heard this, "What's its price?"
"That's right. The price of long-fronted cherry krill is several times higher than that of ordinary Antarctic krill." Gao Chuang said with a smile.
Xiang Yang was excited at first, but then he became distressed again, "But these long-fronted krill are mixed with ordinary Antarctic krill. How can we distinguish them after we catch them?"
Gao Chuang laughed out loud when he heard this and said, "That's easy. Whoever wants to buy it can choose it themselves, or you can ask someone to pick it for you when you go back."