Killing the Antarctic Krill: Assessing State–Corporate Environmental Crime in the Southern Ocean

Abstract

Antarctic krill is a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, in that it plays an essential role in healthy marine food webs and carbon sequestration. However, its survival is increasingly being threatened by a growing industrial fishery dominated by powerful corporations alongside habitat changes caused by climate change. This article examines how states enable and/or fail to prevent the large-scale depletion of Antarctic krill by corporate actors, questioning whether this constitutes state–corporate environmental crime. This illustrates potential governance failures to manage stocks sustainably within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Drawing on state–corporate crime theory, green criminology and comparative cases of transnational extractive harm, the article analyses governance failures within the CCAMLR as a site of regulatory capture and institutional inertia. The analysis reveals patterns of state–corporate collusion and regulatory inaction, with states such as Norway and China promoting krill exploitation for economic benefit by blocking stricter quotas and the establishment of marine protected areas. These omissions and actions by states in partnership with industry amount to state-enabled ecological harm, effectively entrenching transnational environmental harms. The article concludes that stronger international oversight, reformed governance procedures and genuine accountability for the state and corporate actors driving ecological degradation in Antarctica are urgently required, and that CCAMLR member states must prioritise scientific guidance over commercial interests in the management of this ecologically critical species.