¹ {#aker-biomarine-antarctic-as}

Aker BioMarine is a Norwegian seafood company. In 2020, its parent company, Aker ASA, spent more than $100,000 lobbying the US Department of Defense to include an assessment of omega-3 levels in military personnel within the National Defense Authorization Act.² The effort was successful, as the final version of the law requires a briefing to be assembled on several nutritional issues, including “the relationship between diets high in omega 3 fatty acids, or other diets that may lower inflammation and obesity, and improve mental health.”³ Aker Asa is majority-owned by the Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, who has been described by Forbes as “having a reputation as a ruthless corporate raider.”⁴ Despite a heavy public emphasis on sustainability, oil and gas holdings make up more than half of the assets held by Aker BioMarine’s parent company, Aker ASA. In 2021, five workplace incidents were recorded at Aker Biomarine’s plant, according to the company’s annual report.⁵

In correspondence with The Outlaw Ocean Project, spokesperson for Aker BioMarine, Marte Dalsegg, said that “it may be useful to note that Aker ASA – whose principal owner is Kjell Inge Røkke – holds majority stakes in companies across energy, marine biotechnology, industrial software and real estate.”⁶

“The Aker Group is recognised as one of Norway’s largest private industrial employers and taxpayers, operating under strict Norwegian corporate, financial and environmental regulations,” Dalsegg added.⁷

Aker Biomarine accounted for over 70 percent of the world’s Antarctic krill production in 2022, according to its annual report.⁸ It operates a warehouse in Montevideo, Uruguay, where its vessels drop off their catch after processing the krill at sea. Approximately 80 percent of the krill in this warehouse in Montevideo went into the aquaculture feed industry or into pet food, an executive told Mongabay in 2022.⁹

“Offshore operations had four employee injuries leading to lost time,” said the company’s 2022 annual report. “In total, the offshore operations experienced 29 recordable incidents of various nature.”¹⁰ In 2022, a humpback whale was caught in the net of an Aker vessel and died, according to reporting by Reuters.¹¹ Aker BioMarine said that the amount of bycatch from one of its ships over an entire year of fishing would fit into a “small bucket,” yet data from Ccamlr, a management organization, revealed that the amount of annual bycatch would be in the order of several tons per ship, reported AP News in 2023.¹²

In 2022, Aker Biomarine began building a plant in Ski, Nordre Follo, Norway, according to a press release by a company that assisted with installing the plant’s drainage system.¹³ In 2023, construction of the factory was completed, according to a report by Seafood Source.¹⁴ In 2024, Aker Biomarine was in the Southern Ocean fishing for krill with the Antarctic Endurance, Saga Sea, and Antarctic Sea, alongside its support vessel, the Antarctic Provider, according to its website, which offered consumers a tool which can trace the region in which a particular batch of krill oil was sourced.¹⁵

The Saga Sea: In November 2021, one of Aker BioMarine’s three krill ships, the Saga Sea, disembarked a dead crewmember in the port of Montevideo.¹⁶ Responding to questions about the fatality, Pål Skogrand, Chief Policy Officer for Aker Qrill Company, said that “the safety of people on board is our first priority.”¹⁷

“Lost-time injury (LTI) statistics follow standard maritime methodology and include both minor incidents (such as cuts or trips) and more serious cases. “The fatality referenced in your query was due to natural causes and occurred while the vessel was not fishing. Appropriate procedures were followed immediately and in accordance with protocol.”¹⁸

The Antarctic Sea: Three dead juvenile humpbacks were caught in nets used by Aker’s Antarctic Sea vessel in 2021, reported AP News.¹⁹ On May 7, 2022, this vessel hit an iceberg and became dented in an incident that was not reported to Norwegian authorities.²⁰

The Antarctic Endurance: In 2021, the Antarctic Endurance was photographed trawling through a group of hundreds of fin whales, found a report by the World Wildlife Fund.²¹

“All whale-related incidents are reported transparently through CCAMLR records,” Skogrand told The Outlaw Ocean Project. “From 2010 to 2024, there have been six incidental mortalities involving humpback whales. While any mortality is regrettable—and something we work actively to avoid—it has not been considered a non-compliance issue by CCAMLR. There have been no such cases in the past 18 months, which suggests that the whale mitigation device, developed in consultation with experts from CCAMLR and the IWC, is functioning well.”²²

Skogrand also said that Aker BioMarine vessels do not trawl through groups of fin whales and trawl at speeds of approximately 1.5-2 knots, with observational science showing that whales generally avoid vessels at these speeds. “It is also relevant to note that the rebound of whale populations in the Antarctic is well documented and represents a positive development for biodiversity,” Skogrand said, citing a recently published 15-year study of fin whale populations at the South Orkney Islands. ²³ The study was funded by the Norwegian government and private enterprises including Aker BioMarine.²⁴

Aker Biomarine was certified under Friend of the Sea between 2013 and 2025. This program requires plants holding this certification to avoid adverse impacts on species not expressly targeted, and to follow procedures that “guarantee high chances of survival” for bycatch, standards that seem to have been violated according to research by The Outlaw Ocean Project.²⁵

“Bycatch in the Antarctic krill fishery is notably low, typically between 0.1 -- 0.3%, as documented in peer-reviewed science,” Skogrand said in emailed correspondence. “This is due both to specialized trawling technology and to the nature of the fishery, which targets dense krill swarms where other species generally do not thrive. Few fisheries globally demonstrate a lower level of unintended catch.”²⁶