A strange pale fish, lurking in the icy depths of the Southern Ocean, has become the unlikely focus of the latest tussle between the United States, Russia and China.
Beneath the Antarctic ice shelves, living in almost perpetual darkness – the neopagetopsis ionah or Jonah’s icefish – are one of Earth’s most hardy and mysterious creatures.
The ghoulish creatures, with a crocodile-shaped head, have snow-white blood containing antifreeze proteins, no scales and thin bones that allow them to survive in freezing temperatures.
Last year, the discovery of 60 million icefish nests – the world’s largest known fish breeding area – in the Weddell Sea was a major scientific breakthrough. It was hoped they would play an important role in the conservation of Antarctica and its surrounding oceans.
Unlike the highly-prized toothfish, which has previously sparked diplomatic rows and illegal poaching raids in Antarctic waters, there is no demand for icefish from top chefs.
So why is this bottom-dwelling, peculiar fish – and along with it the krill, a tiny shrimp-like crustacean – at the centre of political tensions over territorial claims for a region that contains the world’s largest store of freshwater, rich fisheries, and perhaps huge reserves of minerals, oil and gas?
For scientists and marine conservationists, both icefish and krill are vital to the survival of other species, and an integral part of a complex food chain in the wild and stormy ocean, which in turn influences global food, currents and climate.
The find – by a German research team deploying a towed camera system – was new evidence for the push to create the world’s largest marine protected area in the Weddell Sea. The icy refuge is also home to emperor penguins.
“It is important to protect this nest area because of its ecosystem functions,” said Katharina Teschke of Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institut, and the project’s lead researcher.
“Due to the vast extent of the nest area this icefish area seems to provide an abundant food source for top predators, such as the Weddell seal, which has been actively foraging near the colony since at least the mid-2000s.”
Almost every single animal species in Antarctica either directly relies on krill for survival, or feeds on another species that eats krill, said Andrea Kavanagh, of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy.
“Worryingly, we have seen a concentration of krill fishing in recent years, with most of the catch taken from small, nearshore areas.”