Xinhua News Agency, "Snow Dragon 2", January 10 (Reporter Zhou Yuan) In the Amundsen Sea, on the stern deck of the "Snow Dragon 2", with the sound of "net collection" from the walkie-talkie, the winch steel cable was fast, and another net of Antarctic krill samples was dragged onto the deck.
Antarctic krill has been attracting a lot of attention, what is the reason behind it? Can it be consumed? Yang Jialiang, a member of China's 40th Antarctic Expedition and a member of the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, answered this question.
Globally, krill has a wide range of distribution, with more than 80 species. Yang Jialiang said that there are 8 species of Antarctic krill, and the largest number is Antarctic krill, with adult shrimp mostly 45 mm to 60 mm long.
What else is there in life besides getting together? "Then get together. In the animated film "Happy Feet 2", the dialogue between two Antarctic krills speaks to their habits of living in groups. Normally, the shrimp in the group are twenty or thirty meters thick and several hundred meters long, which can give large areas of the sea a reddish-brown color. "As a result, the number of krill in Antarctica is so large that it is currently estimated that there may be between 600 million and 1 billion tonnes. Yang Jialiang said.
Why is there such a large krill population in Antarctica? Studies have shown that this is mainly related to the currents in the area. The water from the warm ocean currents of the north forms an upwelling here, and the water is rich in nutrients and the water temperature is high, allowing phytoplankton to bloom and become an ideal place for krill to feed and inhabit.
In the Southern Ocean, whales can often be seen rushing towards shrimp with their mouths open, and seals and penguins shuttling between shrimp to hunt. "Krill is a key link in the Southern Ocean biological food chain. Yang Jialiang introduced that Antarctic krill uses phytoplankton as bait, and is also the main food of whales, seals, penguins and other animals, which can be called the cornerstone of the biological edifice of Antarctica.
In addition, Antarctic shrimp is also known as a "protein storehouse". "Antarctic krill meat is high in protein, much higher than beef and fish, and contains a variety of amino acids that are essential for the human body. Yang said this does not mean that krill is recommended for humans to eat directly.
He went on to explain that Antarctic krill usually need to be processed immediately within 10 hours of coming out of the water due to the high fluoride content in the shell and the fact that the digestive enzymes in the body of krill can quickly break down the meat in a short period of time after krill death, causing the fluoride contained in the shell to penetrate the shrimp meat.
If it is used as a food, the requirements are even more stringent, and the shelling must be completed within 3 hours and processed into surimi or shrimp. According to Yang Jialiang, limited by the fishing environment and food processing technology, at present, the main products of Antarctic krill in the world are frozen shrimp, shrimp meal, and subsequent processing into krill oil, aquaculture feed or feed additives. (ENDS).