Krill Oil
Krill
Krill are small marine crustaceans that look like shrimp and live in the open sea. They are 8 to 60 mm long, and 82 species have been described. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is about 5 cm long and translucent, with reddish-brown blotches. Krill live in vast swarms, near the surface or at great depths. Krill are the main prey of several penguin, whale and fish species in Antarctic waters.[2] Like fish, krill build up EPA and DHA from the fatty acids of the plankton they eat.[3]
Harvest
Because krill are so numerous and nutritious, they are increasingly harvested as human food. Krill oil, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, is used to make dietary supplements.[2] Antarctic krill is the target of the largest fishery in the Southern Ocean. The catch has tripled since 2000 and now makes up about 97% of all catch there, although this appears to be less than 1% of all krill. The fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).[4]
Krill numbers near the Antarctic Peninsula have fallen significantly since the 1970s, because climate change has reduced the sea ice that shelters them. Many ecologists are concerned that a growing krill fishery will leave less krill for penguins, whales and fish.[2]
Composition
In krill oil, the omega-3s occur mainly as phospholipids. Some studies suggest that the body takes them up somewhat better than the omega-3s in fish oil; other studies do not.[1]
Products containing it
- Omega 3 Forte fish and krill oil capsules (D 237)
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Office of Dietary Supplements, Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Krill. Revised 1 October 2026; retrieved 10 November 2026.
- ↑ V. G. Alfio, C. Manzo and R. Micillo, From Fish Waste to Value: An Overview of the Sustainable Recovery of Omega-3 for Food Supplements. Molecules 26 (2021), 1002.
- ↑ S. L. Hill, A. Atkinson et al., Observing change in pelagic animals as sampling methods shift: the case of Antarctic krill. Frontiers in Marine Science 11 (2024), 1307402.