PRODUCTION 



fish. As yet, however, no one is able 

 to predict the success or failure of 

 attempts to exploit these supplies of 

 protein food in southern waters. 

 There have also been some explora- 

 tory harvests of shrimp-seals ("crab- 

 eater seal"), in order to obtain oil 

 and hides and, possibly, meat. 



The dominant and incredibly abun- 

 dant species of euphausid is the two- 

 inch Euphausia superba, also known 

 as krill. This species often concen- 

 trates in such numbers that it colors 

 the surface reddish and washes up on 

 the decks of ships in heavy seas. It 

 should be possible to harvest great 

 quantities in slow hauls of tine- 

 meshed nets — but what to do with 

 them then? 



The amount of shell in relation to 

 meat may prevent utilization for 

 human consumption, but the shrimp 

 could be ground into a meal for poul- 

 try. As the shell is "soft," such a 

 ground, dried meal might make a 

 highly satisfactory protein additive to 

 human food. The Soviets are the 

 only group to have made exploratory 

 harvests of Euphausia superba; what 

 success they had or what they did 

 with the shrimp is not clear. 



Among other invertebrates, there 

 are considerable numbers of giant 

 barnacles, mussels, and stone-crabs 

 in sub-antarctic waters; harvest of 

 these can be increased if transpor- 

 tation to markets improves. None of 

 them is important, however. 



Seals, particularly the ice-floe seal, 

 or shrimp-seal, Lobodon carcinophaga 

 and the elephant-seal Mirounga 

 leonina are potential protein foods 

 for animal consumption if the entire 

 carcass, except for hide and fat, is 

 ground and frozen in bags of 25 to 

 50 pounds. Such fresh meat-meal 

 would then include all meat, bones, 

 and entrails, and be nourishing as an 

 additive in poultry food, and as a 

 staple for fur-bearing animals. 



Populations of the southern fur- 

 seals on sub-antarctic islands are 



growing steadily, to the point where 

 limited harvest will be possible in a 

 few years without damage to the 

 stock. Here again, after hide and 

 fat are removed and utilized, the 

 entire carcass can be ground and 

 frozen in bags and used as fresh 

 meat-meal for poultry and fur ani- 

 mals. Such controlled exploitation 

 could also include the large southern 

 sea-lion Otaria byroni. 



Exploitation by Man 



The Norwegians have already con- 

 ducted postwar sealing in the ant- 

 arctic, principally on the shrimp-seal. 

 Fishing is under exploratory investi- 

 gation now by the United States, by 

 Germany in cooperation with Argen- 

 tina, and probably by the Japanese 

 and Russians. Also, some Chilean 

 fishing boats are now operating out 

 of Punta Arenas in the Strait of 

 Magellan. 



The results of these investigations 

 seem to have been negative in large 

 yields per unit of effort. But mar- 

 ketable fish have appeared off South 

 Georgia Island in numbers in the 

 past, and these concentrations for- 

 merly gave a good yield to local 

 whalers fishing for their own needs. 

 More exploration might reveal some 

 pattern of availability by species, 

 locality, oceanographic conditions, 

 and season. 



Whaling has been the only indus- 

 try in antarctic waters, indeed in the 

 entire antarctic area, land or sea, 

 except for the nineteenth-century 

 fur- and elephant-sealing, which was 

 conducted largely on sub-antarctic 

 islands. 



Whaling started in 1904 at South 

 Georgia Island. From then until the 

 worldwide depression of the early 

 1930's it grew in volume and geo- 

 graphic coverage to a very high 

 point — too high, as was evident 

 even then, for maintenance of a suf- 

 ficient stock for continued high yield. 

 In the late 1930's, whaling again in- 



creased greatly. It shui - Hiring 



World War II, but increa 

 from 1946 to 1960, and it was 

 ous to most concerned people — all 

 except the whaling companies — that 

 the end was not far off. This end 

 almost came in the late 1960's, and 

 now the yield of whales is so low 

 that whaling is conducted by two 

 countries only, the U.S.S.R. and 

 Japan, who harvest mainly the sei- 

 whale, formerly an undesirable spe- 

 cies because of its relatively small size 

 (to 55 feet) and its relatively low 

 yield of oil and meat. Some finbacks 

 are taken, but the few remaining blue 

 and humpback whales are completely 

 protected. 



There has been some effort by the 

 whaling industry in the past and 

 present, especially by Japan, to save 

 some of the proteins from whales, 

 either in the form of refrigerated 

 fresh meat, meat extract, or meat- 

 meal. But the main product has 

 been oil. 



The prognosis for whaling in the 

 future is unclear. The industry may 

 continue on a low scale, but surely 

 it cannot grow as long as the popula- 

 tions of fin- and sei-whales are held 

 to low levels. Humpbacks may in- 

 crease to visible and perhaps harvest- 

 able numbers in five to ten years, but 

 whaling from shore stations in lower 

 latitudes on the winter-reproducing 

 herds — same stocks — may then be 

 undertaken. 



Estimates of the time it will take 

 for the blue whale to recover run as 

 long as fifty years. All whaling 

 should cease for a while to allow even 

 the fin- and sei-whales to recover. 

 They could then yield a fair harvest 

 while the humpback and blue whales 

 also recover. And emphasis should 

 be on meat as well as oil. 



Signs of Pollution — Contamina- 

 tion of the antarctic waters is not 

 now pronounced, although DDT has 

 been found in the fat of some pen- 

 guins and, perhaps, seals. The prog- 

 nosis for the future is not good, 



241 



