Antarctic krill are the foundation of Southern Ocean ecosystems, harvested in enormous quantities while their welfare status remains uncertain and populations face mounting climate pressures.
The welfare status of krill is deeply uncertain but scientifically important given their scale and their role in ocean food webs. Harvested krill are brought aboard ships and processed often while alive. If krill have any form of subjective experience - evidence is preliminary but emerging - the scale of krill harvesting represents a welfare issue of enormous magnitude. Beyond individual krill welfare, the depletion of krill populations affects the welfare of billions of dependent animals from blue whales to Adelie penguins who depend on krill abundance for survival.