tion still seems high because Chile was an active member of the 

 FIBEX conducted from about mid-January to the end of March 

 1981. 



Federal Republic of Germany. — Trade reports appearing in the 

 press (Anonymous 1977b) state that "in spite of West Germany's 

 recent energetic research work in Antarctic waters, the Soviet 

 Union already has a five-year lead but is declining to co-operate in 

 sharing any scientific discoveries she may have made." 



Unlike the U.S.S.R., Germany has not concentrated most of its 

 experimental work on krill paste. Instead, in the relatively short 

 time since operations began in 1975-76, it has tried the following 

 product forms: 1) Comminuted krill meat from boiled krill, 2) 

 fried krill portions made from frozen comminuted krill, 3) 

 souplike preparation obtained through an enzymatic process using 

 raw (nonboiled) krill, and 4) meat product analogues from krill, 

 dried milk, and saltfish. 



Trade sources hint that the 1978-79 German venture into the An- 

 tarctic may well be its last. This is because West German fishery in- 

 dustry people have expressed criticism of krill exploration. They 

 definitely prefer "closer-to-home research with more immediate 

 prospects of tangible results" (Anonymous 1977). In view of the 

 alleged German industry attitude, it would appear that German 

 Antarctic explorations may be curtailed except for multinational 

 ventures such as the recently completed (1981) FIBEX. 



Poland. — Polish investigators have had little experience with 

 crustaceans other than three species of freshwater crayfish that are 

 native to Poland and eastern Europe. Following the lead of the 

 U.S.S.R., the Poles have made six annual trips to the Antarctic in 

 the pursuit of krill and its manufacture into food. From all ac- 

 counts, the Polish investigators have avoided the U.S.S.R.'s heavy 

 emphasis upon krill paste and have chosen to explore other alter- 

 natives. In the short time Poland has been active in krill research 

 and processing, its investigators have developed a method of peel- 

 ing krill that is alleged to be in the process of being patented. The 

 krill are first boiled, then individually quick-frozen, and peeled in a 

 machine resembling a potato peeler. The principle of continuous 

 centrifugal abrasion appears to be central to the method. The 

 meats and shell fragments are then separated by air. The yield of 

 meats is reportedly between 16 and 20%. The resultant tail meats 

 are said to be of attractive appearance. 



A slightly different peeling principle has been patented by 

 Dalmor Deep Sea Fishery of Gdynia, Poland (Kryszewski and 

 Jasniewicz 1977). While little detailed information is available, it is 

 believed that the krill are cooked and then subjected to mechanical 

 treatment that includes a high speed rotating drum and large quan- 

 tities of water. The yield from the prototype model is about 10%, 

 but it is believed that with further improvement, the yield could be 

 raised to 15%. It is to be noted that with both Polish peeling 

 machines the krill are cooked before peeling whereas with the 

 American-made peelers by Laitram and Skrmetta the krill must be 

 fresh raw or thawed raw. Yields with the American peelers are in 

 excess of 15%. 



Argentina. — Despite its proximity to abundant krill stocks, 

 reports of active work on krill studies by Argentina are lacking ex- 

 cept for the sending of a scientific observer on a German research 

 vessel to the Antarctic. It would appear that Argentina's interest in 

 the Antarctic lies more in oceanographic and other operations that 

 come within the purview of the Argentine Navy. Plans of Centro 

 De Investigaciones de Tecnologia Pesquera (CITEP) do not call 



for immediate krill studies. CITEP is fully aware, however, of the 

 international interest in the potential of krill. 



United Kingdom. — Despite the years of exploratory work done 

 by the British in the years between the two World Wars recorded in 

 the Discovery Reports, the British have never sent an expedition 

 aimed solely at utilizing krill for human food. Germany invited 

 British fishery investigators as observers in the German expeditions 

 of 1975-76 and 1977-78. 



The Torry Research Station Annual Report of 1976 stated 

 among other things "Euphausia when cooked has a mild shrimp- 

 like flavor and the texture of the meat is slightly sloppy. It has 

 potential as a raw material for food, but no product of wide appeal 

 has yet been made from it." 



In the 1977 annual report from Torry, it was stated "The 

 economic viability of an Antarctic fishery done by the UK fishing 

 industry would depend critically on the existence of a profitable 

 market for the products; suitable products still remain to be 

 developed. Whilst limited research is prudent, any major effort 

 does not seem justified at this stage." 



A British fisheries trade journal (Anonymous 1976) stated that 

 the Fisheries Research and Development Board has gone on record 

 to the effect that the disadvantages of a krill operation exceed the 

 advantages. It has stated that it would prefer to investigate the 

 possibility of exploiting deep-water blue whiting stocks that exist 

 close to its shores. 



Norway. — Norway has given the world the word "krill" (kril) 

 to identify the luminescent euphausids which form the chief food 

 of baleen whales. Norway is one of the seven nations that claims 

 sovereignty over certain parts of Antarctica itself; yet, it has not 

 engaged in extensive efforts to explore the possibilities latent in 

 krill. The reason for Norway's apparent lack of interest is not 

 known, but since Norway is one of the top protein exporters in the 

 form of fishery products, it would appear that the supply of fish in 

 home waters is more inviting than in the Antarctic. 



Taiwan. — This country first became involved in krill exploration 

 in 1975 with the catching of 136 1 of krill. Products made from the 

 catch include krill vegetable stew, fried krill rolls, krill soup, bean 

 curd stuffed with krill, and other Chinese foods. The investigators 

 have emphasized the problem of enzymatic degradation of krill, 

 drip loss, and discoloration of the krill. No further explorations 

 have been made expressly for krill although an Antarctic trip was 

 made in 1977-78 for finfish. 



Byproducts 



The exoskeleton of krill, like that of many crustaceans, is rich in 

 two byproducts of potential interest. These are chitin, a polysac- 

 charide similar to cellulose of plant cells, and astaxanthin, a 

 natural pigment associated with many Crustacea. 



Chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan are presently be- 

 ing produced commerically for use in a number of applications, 

 particularly wastewater treatment. Both chitin and chitosan are at 

 least equal to, if not superior to, bovine cartilage in accelerating the 

 healing of wounds. They can serve as replacements for arteries, 

 veins, bones, and cartilage in human protheses. Chitin and 

 chitosan are nontoxic and biodegradable, and research has shown 

 that applications are valuable in the food industry, as coatings and 

 for wet-strength paper, for encapsulating drugs, and as chelating 

 and flocculating agents for water treatment. 



