Aker QRILL Company at Climate Week NYC 2026

From 20 to 27 September, New York fills up with the dialogues that will shape ocean policy for years to come. Aker QRILL Company is present this week to take part in the dialogue with policymakers, scientists, conservation groups, and the people who spend their careers studying the Southern Ocean.

Aker QRILL Company

By Tormod Sandstø

Antarctic krill sits at an unusual intersection. It is one of the most closely regulated fisheries in the world, governed by CCAMLR, the international commission that manages the Southern Ocean by consensus among its member governments. At the same time, it is part of a wider and increasingly urgent conversation about where the world's food system sources its marine ingredients, as more familiar sources, such as Peruvian anchovy, come under growing pressure from a changing climate. Antarctica sits at the center of both questions: how to protect one of the planet's last pristine marine ecosystems and how to meet a growing need for sustainable marine protein and nutrients.

 

Much of the groundwork for that conversation gets done here, in New York, in the weeks before CCAMLR's members meet in Hobart this October to discuss a new marine protected area along the Antarctic Peninsula and an updated approach to managing the krill fishery. That groundwork happens over breakfast tables and in public debates as much as in negotiating halls, which is why we are showing up to both kinds of rooms this week.


We consistently encourage debate and discussion within our industry. This is why we participate in challenging conversations, even when the audience disagrees with us, and why we value being physically present over issuing distant statements.


Where to meet us

 

Matts Johansen, chairman of Aker QRILL Company, Pål Skogrand Chief Policy Officer at Aker QRILL Company and Nina Jensen, ocean conservation leader at the Southern Ocean Foundation, are in New York for Climate Week. Some of the conversations below are open to the media and invited guests, with more to be added as they are confirmed.


"Unlocking consensus: the road to MPA in Antarctica"

 

A breakfast conversation bringing together policymakers, ocean advocates, scientists and industry on securing one of the world's largest marine protected areas, and what it will take to reach consensus in CCAMLR.

  • Wednesday 23 September, 08:30 to 09:30

     

  • Marriott Marquis, New York, Playwright Ballroom

     

  • Hosted with the UN Global Compact

     

  • On the panel: Matts Johansen, David Agnew (former executive secretary, CCAMLR), Max Bello (Blue Marine Foundation), Matthew Savoca (Stanford University) and Nina Jensen.

     

  • Moderator: Chris G Barnes, Ocean 14 Capital

     

  • More information: UN Global Compact UNGA Week

 

"Why does Antarctic krill fishing exist?"

 

A roundtable debate hosted by the Antarctic Avengers, bringing together scientists, conservationists and political leaders to discuss the ecological, economic and political case for and against the fishery. Matts Johansen and Nina Jensen take part.

 


Interested in an invitation to any of the events we are taking part in during Climate Week? Reach out:

Tormod Sandstø, Communications Director, tormod.sandsto@qrill.com

➡️  Learn more about Climate Week NYC:

https://www.climateweeknyc.org/