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4. Local Impacts of Harvesting Operations 



The mechanics of commercial harvesting of krill will 

 have local impacts on the marine environments. Krill are 

 caught by trawling. The processing of krill can be done 

 on the trawler acting autonomously, or may be carried out 

 by mother processing vessels at sea, or may use shore 

 based factory facilities. Because krill spoil within 

 several hours after catching, processing must be relative- 

 ly rapid. Trawling vessels will have to operate close to 

 factory facilities. 



Most krill processing methods retain the soft flesh 

 but discard the carapace of the organism. The hard parts 

 of zooplankton are a normal component of detritus in sea 

 water. In deep water, normal decomposition processes can 

 handle krill parts which are dumped overboard. In shallow 

 waters, such as around shore based processing facilities, 

 discarded krill could accumulate, causing pollution prob- 

 lems or perhaps attracting scavenging birds. 



Krill harvesting operations would also cause local 

 pollution from ship bilges and garbage. Pollution prob- 

 lems would be most pronounced in a shore based factory 

 facility with shallow surrounding water and would be in- 

 tensified if a large support staff were living in the vi- 

 cinity during the harvesting season. 



At present, technological limitations on the rate of 

 krill harvesting, limited market and availability of 

 fishing vessels, have limited shipping traffic connected 

 with krill harvesting. If krill harvesting is unregulated, 

 shipping traffic will increase substantially within sev- 

 eral decades, intensifying local pollution problems asso- 

 ciated with harvesting and processing activities. Control 

 on krill harvesting will incidentally regulate the level 

 of shipping traffic. 



5. Disturbance of the Marine Ecosystem 



The Antarctic Treaty and Agreed Measures provide for 

 peaceful uses of the Antarctic continent, which have in- 

 cluded a great deal of scientific study. These agree- 

 ments do not apply to surrounding ocean. Even so, there 

 is recognition that the Antarctic marine ecosystem is 

 important for scientific investigation, because it is a 

 relatively undisturbed marine ecosystem and because there 

 is intrinsic interest in polar oceanography. 



