Here we present preliminary results on krill distribution from data collected from the Norwegian fishing vessel (F/V) Antarctic Endurance during her commercial operation for Antarctic krill in subareas 48.1 and 48.2 during different timings of the year in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Our seasonal investigations demonstrate the potential of using fishing vessels as research platforms to address data gaps in krill biology and illustrate the value of these data for krill management especially on the following issues identified on the SC-CAMLR Symposium in February 2022 for future strategic direction of SC-CAMLR from 2023-2027:
• What is the seasonal proportion of mature females captured by the fishery?
• What is the proportion of krill recruits that are captured by the fishery?
• What is the seasonal behavior of krill swarming behaviour in relation to their vertical distribution in the water column and due to predator interaction?
• Can we identify spawning hotspots?