1. INTRODUCTION
5
to work farther afield and the Norwegians commenced operations a t
South Georgia in 1904. Now, sixty years later, the industry as an
economic proposition seems finished and unless strong conservation
measures are enforced irreparable damage to the industry may be done.
The whale is a t the apex of the food chain. What happens if a fishery
for organisms like krill, that form the staple food of very many animals
already fished by man, is prosecuted ruthlessly? Krill form shoals and,
therefore, it may be relatively easy to develop fishing techniques that
can exploit this behaviour. If the fishing of krill becomes efficient
the stocks of krill could be reduced and then what happens to those
organisms dependent on krill for their nutrition? We shall return to this
topic a t the end of this book once we have examined the life history,
behaviour, breeding, feeding, and biochemistry of krill and have some
knowledge on which to base our arguments.