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Despite much research on Euphausia superba, estimates of their total biomass and production are still very uncertain. Recently, circumpolar krill databases, combined with growth models and revisions in acoustics have made it possible to refine previous estimates. Net-based databases of density and length frequency (KRILLBASE) yield a summer distributional range of ∼19×10⁶km² and a mean total abundance of 8×10¹⁴ post-larvae with biomass of 379 million tonnes (Mt). These values are based on a standardised net sampling method but they average over the period 1926–2004, during which krill abundance has fluctuated. To estimate krill biomass at the end of last century we combined the KRILLBASE map of relative krill density around Antarctica with an acoustics-derived biomass estimate of 37.3Mt derived for the Scotia Sea area in 2000 by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living …