April 27, 2015 — The growth of the Chinese appetite for seafood has been well-established for several years now, but there is evidence that the Chinese appetite – and its fishing industry – is also expanding to include krill, specifically Antarctic krill.
“The main target is products for human consumption, more specifically krill oil,” said Dimitri Sclabos, whose company, Tharos, a Chilean consultancy, designed the business model and processing concept for the Chinese trawler companies involved. “The Chinese market is eagerly waiting for them, but the goal is to cover the Western market too.”
China has a burgeoning population of middle to upper socio-economic class consumers – the country is now officially the world’s No 1 economic power – so it is actively seeking products which might previously have just been consumed in western countries. “Middle-high class Chinese demand is robust and insisting on high quality products,” Sclabos said. “They [Chinese trawler companies] will implement new technologies to reach these goals.”
Trawlers from a number of countries have prosecuted the huge Antarctic krill fishery over the years although in terms of current catch effort the industry is concentrated in Norwegian hands. Companies from South Korea are still very active in the fishery, as is Ukraine, but other countries which were fishing for krill, such as Japan and Poland, have given up.