Twelve days of talks in Hobart ended on Friday, 30 October 2026 with nothing to show for it. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) — the body that governs fishing in the Southern Ocean — adopted no new marine protected area and no new rules for the Antarctic krill fishery. It was the tenth straight year without a new Antarctic marine protected area, and the third year in a row without a krill safeguard.
That failure matters far beyond Antarctica. Krill is the tiny crustacean that powers the Southern Ocean food web — and, increasingly, the global omega-3 and aquaculture-feed industries. Catches have quintupled since 2009 and have now hit the precautionary limit two years running, closing the fishery early in August both times. With fishmeal prices at all-time highs and the industry warning of a supply deficit as early as 2027, the stakes for Indian shrimp farmers — who depend on fishmeal-based feed — are very real. India, a CCAMLR member since 1985, sat at that table in Hobart.
What happened in Hobart — at a glance
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Meeting | 45th meeting of CCAMLR |
| Dates | Monday, 19 October – Friday, 30 October 2026 |
| Venue | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (CCAMLR headquarters) |
| Members present | 27 members — 26 countries plus the European Union |
| New marine protected areas agreed | None — tenth consecutive year without one |
| New krill fishery measures agreed | None — third year in a row |
| Krill catch limit (trigger level) | 620,000 tonnes a year in Area 48 — reached in both 2025 and 2026 |
| Key blocked proposal | Domain 1 marine protected area, 456,000 sq km, proposed by Argentina and Chile |
| Next chance | Intersessional talks, then the 46th meeting in 2027 |
A decade of deadlock on protection
In 2009, CCAMLR members committed to building a representative system of marine protected areas across the Southern Ocean. The only one ever designated under that commitment is the Ross Sea region MPA, agreed in 2016. Since then, every proposal — for the Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica and two areas of the Weddell Sea — has stalled for want of consensus. CCAMLR decides by consensus, so a single member can block a measure, and the Chinese and Russian delegations have repeatedly vetoed new MPAs.
This year the focus was Domain 1, a vast stretch of ocean between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Islands where krill fishing is concentrated and where penguins, whales, seals and seabirds feed. Argentina and Chile proposed protecting 456,000 square kilometres (176,000 square miles) of it. The proposal was vetoed again. “Countries like Russia basically couldn’t go with this consensus, but opened the door to have more discussions in the future,” Maximiliano Bello of the Blue Marine Foundation told Mongabay after the meeting closed.
China, whose fleet took 37% of krill catches in 2025, tabled its own proposals instead: a new MPA in the Cosmonauts Sea — an area in the eastern Southern Ocean where krill catches have been negligible for 30 years — and a document proposing to redefine what a CCAMLR MPA means, so that fishing could continue inside protected areas under the banner of “rational use”. Members discussed both documents but did not vote on them.
The krill numbers that forced the issue
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a shrimp-like crustacean, and it is the keystone of the Southern Ocean: almost everything else — penguins, seals, whales, seabirds — eats it or eats something that eats it. It is also a booming industrial commodity, processed into omega-3 oil for human supplements, fishmeal and fish oil for aquaculture feed, and pet food.
| Figure | Value | Source / note |
|---|---|---|
| Krill catch, 2009 | 125,826 tonnes | CCAMLR data, via Mongabay |
| Krill catch, 2025 | 620,000 tonnes | CCAMLR data — the precautionary trigger limit |
| Krill catch, 2026 | 620,000 tonnes | Limit reached again; season closed early in August |
| Precautionary catch limit, Area 48 | 5.61 million tonnes | CCAMLR; the 620,000-tonne trigger is about 11% of it |
| Estimated krill biomass | About 63 million tonnes | 2019 CCAMLR synoptic survey, via Aker BioMarine |
| Share of 2025 catch — Aker Qrill | 52% | Aker BioMarine white paper, October 2026 |
| Share of 2025 catch — Chinese fleet | 37% | CCAMLR data, via Mongabay |
| Proposed cap for sub-area 48.1 | 395,000 tonnes | Proposed safeguard; not adopted |
| Projected omega-3 supply deficit | 160,000 tonnes by 2031 | Aker BioMarine white paper — industry estimate, not an official forecast |
The growth has been driven by the Norwegian and Chinese fleets, chasing rising demand for omega-3 fatty acids. The fishery hit its 620,000-tonne trigger limit in 2025 — the first time ever — and closed on 1 August that year. In 2026 it hit the limit again and closed early in August, months ahead of schedule. The early closures happened because a safeguard that spread fishing effort across different areas was allowed to lapse in 2024, concentrating the fleet in the same grounds.
Norway’s delegation proposed increasing the catch limits at this year’s meeting, but failed to win consensus. Norway’s fisheries minister, Marianne Sivertsen Næss, had defended the scientific basis for a “moderate increase” in parliament in September. On the other side, the industry itself is split: Aker BioMarine, the biggest krill company, has publicly backed the Domain 1 MPA and a modernised management system, arguing it would let catches rise sustainably by spreading effort across areas and seasons — rather than by simply raising the cap.
Why Indian readers should care
Three reasons. First, India is a CCAMLR member. India acceded to the Convention on 17 June 1985 and has been a permanent member of the Commission since, with the work coordinated by the Ministry of Earth Sciences through the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi. India supported the Ross Sea MPA, and as a member it holds the option to fish in the Convention area within CCAMLR quotas. Decisions in Hobart are decisions India is part of — and India’s own Southern Ocean research, run through the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, feeds into the same science.
Second, feed prices. Krill meal and krill oil are ingredients in aquaculture feed, and the omega-3 market is already squeezed: fishmeal production in Peru and Chile fell 49% and fish oil 30% in January–July 2026 after Peru cancelled its second anchovy season, and Aker BioMarine’s CEO says fishmeal prices are at an all-time high. If krill supply tightens further — Aker’s own white paper warns demand could exceed supply as early as 2027 — feed costs for Indian shrimp and fish farmers rise with it. What happens to a 2-centimetre crustacean in Antarctica shows up in the price of a bag of feed in Andhra Pradesh.
Third, the governance lesson. CCAMLR is the world’s largest regional fisheries management organisation, and its consensus rule is both its strength and its weakness: it has kept the Southern Ocean comparatively well managed, but it also lets two members block protection for a decade. The same dynamic plays out in the tuna commissions that govern the Indian Ocean stocks Indian fishers actually catch — which is why the ICCAT meeting opening in Vilamoura on 16 November matters, and why our RFMO question bank explains how these bodies work.
What the deadlock means for the ocean
Conservation groups were blunt. “CCAMLR has an obligation to conserve Antarctic wildlife, but its continued failure to act is leaving penguins, seals and whales competing with industrial fishing vessels for their food,” said Andrea Kavanagh of the Antarctic Wildlife Alliance. WWF Australia called for a moratorium on krill fishing until effective management measures are in place. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition acknowledged progress in the talks but called it “regrettable that there are no meaningful outcomes”.
Several groups have renewed calls for consumers and supermarkets to boycott krill products — krill oil supplements and pet food — pointing out that retailers including Holland & Barrett in the UK, Whole Foods in the US, and Coles and Woolworths in Australia have already removed or committed to remove krill products from shelves.
There is one counterweight to the gloom. The industry association ARK said members were “closer this year than many expected” and will keep working toward adoption of both the krill management system and the Domain 1 MPA in 2027. And the wider ocean-governance picture shifted this year too: the UN High Seas Treaty (the BBNJ Agreement) entered into force on 17 January 2026, giving the world a new legal tool for protecting marine life beyond national jurisdiction — even if it does not override CCAMLR inside its own Convention area.
What happens next
- Intersessional talks: members agreed to keep negotiating between formal meetings, with the krill management system and the Domain 1 MPA both on the table for 2027.
- 46th CCAMLR meeting, 2027: the next formal chance to adopt new krill rules and the Domain 1 MPA. ARK says the industry will push for both.
- 2027 krill season: without new rules, the fishery will again be managed under the existing 620,000-tonne trigger limit — and, on the last two years’ evidence, could close early again in August.
- Feed markets: watch fishmeal and fish oil prices through the first half of 2027. Peru’s first anchovy season of 2027 and the krill season will jointly decide whether the squeeze eases or tightens. Our earlier report on Peru cancelling its second anchovy season explains the other half of that supply picture.
- India’s role: as a CCAMLR member with Southern Ocean research capacity, India’s position in the 2027 talks — and CMLRE’s science input — will be worth watching. India has backed MPAs before; whether it pushes harder in 2027 is an open question.
Frequently asked questions
What is CCAMLR?
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, established under a 1980 convention that entered into force on 7 April 1982. It manages fishing and conservation in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, is headquartered in Hobart, and has 27 members (26 countries plus the EU). India has been a member since 1985.
What is Antarctic krill, and why does it matter?
Euphausia superba, a small shrimp-like crustacean and the keystone species of the Southern Ocean food web — the main food of penguins, seals, whales and seabirds. It is also fished for omega-3 oil, aquaculture feed and pet food.
Why did the 2026 meeting fail?
CCAMLR decides by consensus. China and Russia again blocked the Domain 1 marine protected area, and members could not agree either on a new krill management system or on Norway’s proposal to raise catch limits. It was the tenth straight year with no new MPA.
Is krill fishing unregulated now?
No. The existing precautionary trigger limit of 620,000 tonnes a year in Area 48 still applies, and hitting it closes the fishery early — as happened in August 2025 and August 2026. What is missing is a modern system to spread effort across areas and seasons, and any new protected area.
How does this affect Indian fish farmers?
Indirectly but really: krill meal and oil feed into the same global fishmeal and fish oil markets that supply Indian aquaculture feed. With Peruvian anchovy supply down and krill capped, feed prices are at all-time highs. The hilsa catch crash in Bangladesh is a separate reminder of what happens when a key stock is squeezed.
Fact-check note (15 November 2026)
Every date, figure and claim in this article was checked on 15 November 2026 against: Mongabay’s report of 3 November 2026 on the 45th CCAMLR meeting (dates, venue, membership, Domain 1 veto, catch figures, China’s 37% share, Aker Qrill’s 52% share, the 160,000-tonne deficit warning); SeafoodSource’s report of 2 November 2026 (no measures adopted for the third year, 395,000-tonne Zone 48.1 cap proposal, 620,000-tonne limit hit in 2025 and 2026); WWF Australia’s statement of 30 October 2026 (meeting close, early closures, moratorium call); Aker BioMarine’s 13 August 2026 notice (2026 season close, 5.61-million-tonne precautionary limit, ~63-million-tonne biomass estimate); and the Government of India’s own records (Lok Sabha answer, 2 August 2017: India acceded to the CCAMLR Convention on 17 June 1985; Ministry of Earth Sciences: coordination via CMLRE, Kochi). Weekdays were verified: 19 October 2026 was a Monday and 30 October 2026 a Friday. The 160,000-tonne deficit by 2031 and the “demand exceeds supply as early as 2027” warning come from Aker BioMarine’s own October 2026 white paper and are labelled as industry estimates, not official forecasts. The BBNJ Agreement’s entry into force on 17 January 2026 is per the Frontiers in Marine Science governance analysis. No new MPA or krill measure was adopted at CCAMLR-45 — that is the confirmed outcome, not a rumour.