Recent whale deaths highlight risks from Antarctica’s booming krill fishery

Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that two humpback whales were found dead and another seriously injured this year in huge nets used to collect krill for fishmeal and human dietary supplements near Antarctica. The whale deaths, which have not been previously reported, were discussed during recent negotiations between the U.S., China, Russia and other countries that failed to make progress on long-debated conservation goals and lifted some fishing limits in the Southern Ocean that have been in place since 2009. The whale deaths and rollback of the catch limits represent a setback for the remote krill fishery, which has boomed in recent years and is set to expand even further.