Even now that the southern oceans have been declared a Whale Sanctuary, countries such as Japan and Norway continue to ignore international agreements that ban whaling. Fortunately penguins are no longer slaughtered in large numbers for oil, but they are still killed for food or fishing bait in some areas. In Peru, Humboldt Penguins are sometimes killed illegally for food or fishing bait. Fisherman along the remote coastal reaches of southern Chile also kill Magellanic Penguins for use as bait in crab pots. In many areas penguins are caught in gill-nets laid by local fisherman, and breeding sites are disturbed by the illegal taking of penguin eggs for food.
Penguins are the major avian top-predators in the southern oceans.
The entire world population of all penguins consume around 20 - 25 million tons of fish, squid and crustaceans every year. By way of comparison, the world's commercial fisheries remove around 70 million tons per year. Because penguins breed in very large numbers at particular sites, and generally forage within a range of 50km, there is considerable local competition for food. Breeding colonies therefore rely on highly productive feeding areas within their daily foraging range, in order to sustain chick production. Any significant reduction in food abundance within this foraging zone is likely to have adverse affects on chick-rearing ability.