Why NOAA is banning krill harvest off the West Coast

There are no krill fisheries yet in the 200-mile wide exclusive economic zone off the US West Coast. But, as Greenpeace points out, demand for krill is on the rise. Usually, harvested krill are ground and squeezed into meal or oil that goes to feed livestock or fish. But some foresee a fish food shortage.

There's already talk that rising fishmeal prices will spark a krill war in the Southern Ocean.  And a 2002 report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Program used the term "fish meal trap" to refer to that moment when supply of the a limited resource (fish meal) would no longer meet demand — a peak fish moment.

A later FAO report says:

Even with stable (neither increasing nor decreasing) supplies of raw fish for fishmeal production, it is also argued that the growing demand for fishmeal will continue to drive the price of fishmeal and fish oil upwards. Upon reaching a certain price level, the use of fishmeal and fish oil may no longer be financially viable.

It goes without saying that environmentalists would rather avoid that scenario. By the time market prices respond to a scarcity in fish and/or krill meal, who knows how many marine animals will have starved to death. So more than anything, the NOAA krill ban may be proactive step toward protecting the California food web – especially large, slow-breeding animals such as whales that already suffer from low numbers.

And that's how many are hailing it:

Mother Jones says, "Today's rule is a rare instance of foresight in fisheries management, designed to preserve the foundation of a healthy marine foodweb in the California Current ecosystem, including its five National Marine Sanctuaries."

Oceana's Ben Enticknap tells the AP: "It's proactive and precautionary taking action now before there is a crisis, rather than waiting for a big problem to occur and then having to deal with it."

The West Coast has seen firsthand what happens when krill stocks collapse. In 2003, rockfish populations off California tanked, reports the AP. Then, in 2005, sea birds and other marine life began showing signs of starvation. Scientists eventually blamed a plummeting krill population.

It wasn't from overfishing, though: 2004-'05 was an El Nino year, a periodic warming of the western eastern Pacific. That's when warm surface waters halt the upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters from the deep. Primary productivity slows, and so does everything that depends on it.

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