MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South Georgia expects a good krill season

The current krill season in South Georgia is the latest to start since local records began in 1993. The krill season has normally started by late May or early June, reports the local government official website.

The first krill trawler to arrive in South Georgia was Niitaka Maru on June 26th. The rest of the fleet continues to fish further south near the South Shetland Islands, but other krill trawlers can be expected soon, especially as the first of this seasons catches at South Georgia have been good.

The krill season in South Georgia starts when the winter ice, forming in the fishing grounds further south, pushes the krill vessels north. Recent satellite images of the area shows the sea ice is only now pushing north of the South Orkney Islands. It is possible that the late formation of sea ice is related to a cycle where the influence of an El Nino year is felt three years later in this region.

The expectation is that it will be a good krill season in the South Georgia Maritime Zone (SGMZ) this year as other vessels in the area have reported seeing a lot of krill mark on their echo sounders, and engineers have struggled to keep ships intake filters clear of krill.

One of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists from the base at King Edward Point (KEP) has gone aboard the Niitaka Maru as a stand-in Fisheries Observer until other Observers arrive at the Island. In the toothfish fishery, two of the ten licensed vessels have completed their Total Allocated Catch and left the zone. Others have been going to Stanley, in the Falklands, for mid-season trans shipment.