Climate change impacts on Antarctic marine ecosystem and Krill fishery

Abstract

Life of Antarctic krill, which supports predators as well as fishery, is strongly associated with sea ice, inherently subjected to climate changes. Concurrent examination of sea ice and chlorophyll from the satellite imagery identifies a number of critical areas for the maintenance of krill population that undergo predictable sea ice development and subsequent algal blooms. Field survey and analyses of recent sea ice indicate that part of the Weddel Sea is more important as krill source than previously thought but the sea ice in the area is likely to suffer a fairly rapid decline when climate change proceeds at current rates. Continued loss of sea ice beyond natural variability will result in much less over-winter grounds available for krill population. This should drastically alter the fate and distribution of krill population, and hence the well-being of predators as well as the behavior of krill fishery. Control of fishing efforts, which is already limited in affecting the dynamics of krill, will do little to impact either the predators or the krill fishery in any way, and will be overwrittern by climate changes.