The Southern Ocean ecosystem has undergone extensive changes in the past two centuries driven by industrial sealing and whaling, climate change and commercial fishing. However, following the end of commercial whaling, some populations of whales in this region are recovering. Baleen whales are reliant on Antarctic krill, which is also the largest Southern Ocean fishery. Since 1993, krill catch has increased fourfold, buoyed by nutritional supplement and aquaculture industries. In this Perspective, we approximate baleen whale consumption of Antarctic krill before and after whaling to examine if the ecosystem can support both humans and whales as krill predators. Our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that current krill biomass cannot support both an expanding krill fishery and the recovery of whale populations to pre-whaling sizes, highlighting an emerging human-wildlife conflict. We then provide recommendations for enhancing sustainability in this region by reducing encounters with whales and bolstering the krill population.

在过去的两个世纪中，由于工业捕鲸和捕鲸、气候变化和商业捕捞，南大洋生态系统经历了广泛的变化。然而，随着商业捕鲸的结束，该地区的一些鲸鱼数量正在恢复。须鲸依赖南极磷虾，这也是南大洋最大的渔业。自 1993 年以来，在营养补充剂和水产养殖业的推动下，磷虾捕捞量增加了四倍。在本视角中，我们估算了须鲸在捕鲸前后对南极磷虾的消耗量，以检查生态系统是否能够支持人类和鲸鱼作为磷虾捕食者。我们的粗略计算表明，目前的磷虾生物量无法支持磷虾渔业的扩大和鲸鱼种群恢复到捕鲸前的规模，这凸显了人类与野生动物之间正在出现的冲突。然后，我们提供建议，通过减少与鲸鱼的接触和增加磷虾数量来增强该地区的可持续性。