Despite being the most abundant species in the world, the health of their population is on watch now.

 

The Antarctic krill fishery dominated by Norway, Korea and China has been growing commercial interest in krill for omega-3 related products for farmed salmon, pet, poultry and livestock feed, author Elizabeth Grossman said.

 

The species is increasingly sought after as a source for food for farmed seafood and livestock. It is considered increasingly attractive as an aquaculture feed, particularly for farmed salmon.

 

Krill is also the food source a vast array of ocean species -- from penguins to whales to fish -- depend upon.

 

On top of the concern over human demand for the species, scientists are concerned about the combination of climate change and fishing, and their impact on krill, she said.

 

"Rising temperatures reduce the growth and abundance of plankton on which krill feed, while loss of sea ice removes habitat that shelters both krill and the organisms they eat," she writes. "So when Antarctic sea ice declines, so do krill. One recent study suggests that if current warming and increasing CO2 trends continue, Antarctic krill could lose at least 20% — and in some, particularly vulnerable locations, as much as 55% — of their habitat by the end of the century."