Krill

Krill is a Norwegian word meaning translated Walnahrung. In a narrower sense krill referred Euphausiden. These are small crustaceans that are part of the plankton ( zooplankton ), and the shrimp like crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea (light crabs ) belong.

The best known species is the Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba DANA ). Krill form huge swarms. The biomass was up to earlier estimated at over one billion tons, now go newer estimates of 35-60 million tons, possibly up to 125 million tons (CCAMLR 2000 Survey) in the entire Southern Ocean ( world fisheries yield about 100 million tons per year for comparison).

Krill filter phytoplankton from the water and is the main food of many whales, seals, ice fish, squid, penguins, albatrosses and other birds. Krill is up to six inches long, two grams in weight and probably up to six years old. The " stomach " green shimmers through the transparent skin, signs that Euphausia superba mainly on phytoplankton, particularly diatoms fed that he filters his catcher out of the water. It converts the primary production directly into a relatively large animal, ie themselves to. Krill can also harvest algae from the bottom of the pack ice. The total catch of Euphausia superba is about 90,000 tons per year. Krill is also Leuchtgarnele or lightshrimp called, as he has in the eyes of stems and the body 10 light organs that emit a blue light ( bioluminescence ).

The large swarms of krill from mature and adult animals may be several kilometers long. Such krill swarms can also lead to huge Walversammlungen. Researchers from the U.S. and France have spotted in May 2009 in Antarctica bay " Wilhelmina Bay " more than 300 humpback whales and a gigantic swarm of krill, with an estimated biomass of around two million tonnes. The small crabs were distributed with a density of up to 2000 individuals per cubic meter over an area of ​​hundreds of square kilometers.

In the literature, Euphausia superba is spelled incorrectly as Euphausia superba often or Eupausia superba.

Other important krill species in the North Atlantic Meganyctiphanes norvegica and Euphausia pacifica in the Pacific.

By the people krill is now extensively utilized, not only as food but also in the cosmetics industry, the manufacture of medicines and alternative medicine (especially krill oil) as well as food in fish farms.

The 1976 reigning Research Ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany Hans Matthöfer advocated the use of krill to solve the world food problem. These approaches have been taken by the Indian government, which wants to use krill as an additive against under - and malnutrition.

As a general problem in fishing and the exploitation of krill represents that the stomach acid contained in the stomach of the animal is very aggressive and decomposes the animal's body after death within 10 minutes. Therefore, the small cancer needs to be gutted and flash frozen as soon as possible.