AUSTRALIA'S delegation to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is seeking to contain the Southern Ocean's rapidly expanding krill fishery. 
Delegation leader and Australian Antarctic Division deputy director Gillian Slocum said krill harvests remained well below the commission's total allowable catch limits, but had grown from about 100,000 tonnes to more than 250,000 tonnes in the past couple of years.
A proposal backed by Australia would see krill subjected to stringent management standards similar to Patagonian toothfish and other CCAMLR fisheries.
Ms Slocum said a conservative precautionary approach would be needed to make sure that seals, whales, fish, squid, penguins and other seabirds would always have enough to eat.
"Krill are a cornerstone of the Antarctic ecosystem and the staple diet of many animals," she said.
Ms Slocum said the proposal to tighten up krill fisheries management had been under development by the commission's committees for about two years.
If consensus can be reached among the 23 commission nations and the European Union, it would ensure that krill fishing nations, including Norway, Japan and China would moderate their exploitation of the still abundant resource, which is increasingly in demand for fish meal, health supplements and medical products.Krill is a term used to describe about 85 species of free-swimming, open-ocean crustaceans known as euphausiids and Antarctic krill are among the most abundant and successful animal species on Earth.