what are krill?
Small, shrimp-like creatures found in oceans worldwide, mostly in cold water. They feed on plankton and algae, which makes them naturally high in omega-3 — and a growing target for supplements.
sustainability · sourcing
the trouble with fish oil
Fish oil is still the majority of the omega-3 on the market — and the oceans can't sustain the demand. There's a cleaner way to get the same nutrient.
75% of the world's fisheries are fully exploited — UN FAO
the scale of it
an ocean under pressure
75%
of fisheries are fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted
UN FAO
2048
the year global fish stocks are projected to collapse at current rates
300,000
whales, dolphins and porpoises lost to fishing nets every year
80%
of fish taken from the ocean is used to feed fish farms
Sources: UN FAO; peer-reviewed fisheries projections.
problem 01
overfishing
At the current rate, global fish stocks are projected to collapse by 2048, which is disastrous for all life on Earth. Some species have already been fished to commercial extinction, with many more on the verge.
Efforts have been made to curb overfishing, but the concerns about our oceans' future remain very real.
problem 02
by-catch
An estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in fishing nets every year.
To meet the world's demand for cheap fish oil, fisheries often cut costs with destructive practices such as bottom-trawling. Any "non-target" species caught in the nets (anything not profitable) is thrown back into the sea to die.
problem 03
inefficiency
The oil for fish oil supplements is typically extracted from the head and meat scraps of farmed fish. Those farmed fish, salmon for example, are fed on smaller wild fish: anchovies, sardines, mackerel, menhaden.
For every pound of farmed fish produced, several pounds of wild fish are needed as feed. It's hugely wasteful, and it puts real pressure on wild stocks and the ecosystems they're taken from.
problem 04
contamination & pollution
Over the past 20 years, ocean mercury levels have risen by about 30%, and our seas are more polluted than they have ever been.
Heavy metals and contaminants are absorbed by organisms low in the food chain and accumulate in the larger fish that eat them. The further up the chain a fish sits, the more toxins it has picked up, and those can find their way into your fish oil.
even filtration or distillation isn't guaranteed to remove all contaminants from fish oil
what about krill oil?
Krill oil is a popular alternative to fish oil, sold as the cleaner, greener choice. It's true krill oil carries fewer contaminants — krill sit lower in the food chain. But for the health of the oceans, it could be even worse.
where are they found?
In vast groups across the world's oceans, but Antarctic krill are the main target. The clean, cold waters mean less exposure to toxins, which makes them tempting to krill-fishing fleets.
is it sustainable?
A Greenpeace investigation found krill-fishing fleets becoming more active in the Antarctic as demand rises. That's bad news for the penguins, whales and seals that depend on krill to survive.
the better way
algae is the only source of omega-3 dha & epa that is plant-based, sustainable and contaminant-free
It's where fish (and krill) get their omega-3 in the first place... we just skip the fish. Grown in controlled tanks, never taken from the sea.