The shrimp-like Antarctic krill. (File photo: Modern Express)
(ECNS) - The shrimp-like Antarctic krill will likely be served on the tables of Chinese families in the near future, the Chinese-language newspaper Modern Express reported on Tuesday.
China's Antarctic krill industry is taking shape after more than four years of development, the paper said, citing sources with the country's 31st Antarctic scientific expedition, which has surveyed krill resources near the Chinese Zhongshan Station in Antarctica.
Krill, which lives in the world's purest water, is rich in protein as well as all eight amino acids, especially lysine, needed by the human body, scientists say.
Although it is small, Antarctic krill is the world's most abundant fishable species, according to Li Lingzhi, a researcher with the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.
Since the 1960s, the former Soviet Union, Japan and Poland have taken the lead in commercial krill fishing. In recent years, Norway has led a new round of krill resource development and created a mature international market for krill trading.
China initiated a survey of krill resources during its 1984 expedition to Antarctica, and began commercial krill fishing in 2010. In 2014, it harvested 54,000 tons of Antarctic krill, the paper reported.
Li said China's Antarctic krill industry remains in its infancy, with low efficiency owning to a lack of specialized fishery equipment and technology. Domestic enterprises specializing in heavily processed and high value-added products such as krill oil are still rare.
