But krill is rich in oil brimming in omega-3 fatty acids that Norwegian and Canadian companies sell in pills. The crustaceans are also harvested for special enzymes that can be used by surgeons to clean wounds, even to clean contact lenses.

And the pinkish remains after processing can be used as fish meal, for example to give salmon flesh a richer pink colour.

So far, difficulties in processing krill on ships, high fuel prices and the expense of sending fleets to the bottom of the globe has kept a lid on annual catches, which remain far below levels set under a treaty governing Antarctic marine life.

But the economic equation is changing fast, scientists and fishery regulators say because of soaring food prices, falling global fish stocks and better ship-based processing technology.

Within five years, the annual krill catch could jump from just over 100,000 tonnes to several million tonnes.

"The potential of the krill story is that the competition for protein of whatever form is becoming more and more acute," said Denzil Miller, Executive Secretary of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), based in Hobart in southern Australia.

"I think in the next two to three years we are going to see a lot of changes in the way governments and the international community addresses problems of expectation around food security," he said.

He said the commission has created guidelines that managed how and where krill were caught to try to minimise the impact on whales, seals and other predators. The idea is to spread out the catch once it reaches a certain size, particularly in the south Atlantic, where the bulk of the krill fishing occurs.

Failure to do so could have disastrous consequences, he said.

KRILL SEEKERS

Krill catches are already rising quickly.

"The most recent total notified catch was about 684,000 tonnes for the year 2007/08 (December-November). That's all the countries that have notified -- about 25 vessels from 7 members of the commission and two non-members," Miller said.

While it is still unclear if 684,000 tonnes will be taken during the 2007/08 fishing season, the figure presents a sharp jump from 109,000 tonnes caught the previous season but still way below the total allowed catch of 6 million tonnes set under commission rules.

But new processing techniques by Norwegian firm Aker BioMarine has recently changed the whole krill fishery, scientists and environmentalists say.

The company has created a new way to harvest and process krill continuously. Previously, it was hard to catch and then later process large amounts of krill because the enzymes inside them break down quickly, spoiling much of the catch.

"The upshot of all this is that instead of one fleet catching 100,000 tonnes in a season, one boat can catch 100,000 tonnes in one season," said Gerry Leape, director of the Antarctic Krill Conservation Project.

"All of a sudden if that technology is replicated, you could go from a conservative catch to something that could start being a problem," said Leape, also of the Washington-based Pew Environment Group, which runs the krill project as one of its campaigns.

"We are not against krill fishing. We're just against an explosion of it that will not only jeopardize the krill but also have the impacts on the predators and not take into the necessary changes that will be caused by climate change," he said.

Aker BioMarine says it cooperates with global environmental group WWF to ensure its krill harvesting methods are sustainable.