{"id":834455,"date":"2026-09-02T19:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/834455\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T19:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:16:20","slug":"krill-supplements-why-coles-and-woolworths-stopped-sales-amid-international-pressure-to-protect-penguins-and-whales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/834455\/","title":{"rendered":"Krill supplements: Why Coles and Woolworths stopped sales amid international pressure to protect penguins and whales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Caitlin<\/p>\n

September 2, 2026 \u2014 12:36pm<\/p>\n

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Coles and Woolworths have stopped selling nutritional supplements made from krill, a tiny crustacean that is the major food source for iconic Antarctic wildlife such as Emperor penguins and whales.<\/p>\n

The supermarket giants confirmed the decision in response to questions from this masthead but both declined to comment further. Krill supplements, taken as a source of Omega-3 fatty acids, are still sold in smaller retailers and most pharmacies.<\/p>\n

\"AA humpback whale fluking in front of a krill super trawler last summer.Sea Shepherd<\/p>\n

The withdrawal by Coles and Woolworths comes amid an international campaign by environmental groups to try to curb the burgeoning krill fishing industry because of fears about the pressure on the Antarctic ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Captain Peter Hammarstedt, director of campaigns at Sea Shepherd Global, drew attention to the Coles move with a LinkedIn post<\/a>, noting that international retailers UK-based Holland & Barrett and German retailers dm-drogerie markt and Dirk Rossmann GmbH had also withdrawn from the market.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"AntarcticAntarctic krill is the keystone species of the Southern Ocean.Brett Wilks \/ AAPP<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already seen market forces begin to shift decisively away from krill in the United Kingdom and Germany,\u201d Hammarstedt said. \u201cNow that change has reached Australian shores.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holland & Barrett, a health food chain with more than 1000 stores in Britain, helped cofound the Antarctic Krill Pledge<\/a>, which has since been signed by a number of smaller retailers.<\/p>\n

Krill-based nutritional supplements are currently worth an estimated<\/a> $US110.1 million ($154.01 million) globally, according to Future Market Insights, and this is expected to grow to $US216.59 million by 2036, driven largely by demand in China and North America.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe sustainability claims on a bottle of red krill supplements.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

In Australia, krill oil is the fastest-growing source segment within Australia\u2019s Omega-3 supplements market, Complementary Medicines Australia said.<\/p>\n

Krill is also used as fish food in the commercial aquaculture industry and is occasionally found in pet food, though this is not common in Australia.<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd Global has spent the past few Antarctic summers documenting the krill fishing in Antarctica to raise public awareness, and supporting scientists to study the ecological effects but without trying to prevent operations since krill fishing is a legal activity under international agreements. Captain Paul Watson Foundation took a different approach and engaged in direct action to try to disrupt the krill harvest as much as possible.<\/p>\n

The rapid increase in the size of the krill fishing fleet over the past few years meant that last month the krill fishery closed early for the second year in a row. The fishery reached its catch limit of 620,000 tonnes and automatically closed on August 12, months ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n

\"EmperorEmperor penguins rely on sea ice for breeding and as a source of krill.LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Krill fishing nations such as Norway are pushing to double the catch limit to 1.2 million tonnes, though they are unlikely to secure the international consensus needed to change the rules.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Complementary Medicines Australia chief executive John O\u2019Doherty told this masthead in March that the organisation supported informed consumer choice and science-based fisheries management.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnvironmental sustainability is a priority for Australia\u2019s complementary medicines industry,\u201d O\u2019Doherty said. \u201cConsumer trust depends on products that are both effective and responsibly produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get to the heart of what\u2019s happening with climate change and the environment. Sign up for our fortnightly Environment newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"CaitlinCaitlin Fitzsimmons<\/a> is the environment and climate reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. She was previously the social affairs reporter and the Money editor.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 2, 2026 \u2014 12:36pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":["post-834455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}