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PARALLEL SESSION 6B: FISHIERIES, SOIL, AND EMERGY METHODS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
Review and future perspectives in the environmental assessment of
seafood production systems
Parallel session 6b: Fishieries, Soil, and Emergy Methods
Ian Vázquez-Rowe 1,2,* , Almudena Hospido 1 , María Teresa Moreira 1 , Gumersindo Feijoo 1
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela. 15782 – Santiago de Compos-
tela, Spain.
2 CRP Henri Tudor/CRTE, 66 rue de Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (current adress).
Corresponding author. E-mail: ian.vazquez@tudor.lu
ABSTRACT
A set of 29 published articles or reports were analysed with the aim of determining current trends in the use of Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) in the fishing sector in terms of novel methodological innovations and the treatment of assumptions when elaborating
LCAs linked to this production sector. Results showed an increasing use of LCAs in the seafood sector in recent years, but variable
levels of methodological development. Based on the evaluation, a simple guideline to set common denominators in future LCA
studies are proposed in terms of goal and scope, life cycle inventory or impact category selection. Finally, innovative issues that
could turn LCA into a more integrative methodology within fishing systems, in order to enhance its usefulness in policy support, are
briefly discussed.
Keywords: carbon footprint, fisheries, food systems, LCA, seafood
1. Introduction
Environmental impacts linked to seafood production systems have centred numerous studies in recent
decades due to increasing fragility regarding the state of world fisheries (Worm et al., 2009). In this context,
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has arisen as a useful environmental management methodology, the only one
that is standardized at an international level, to quantify resource use and emissions in a broad set of primary
and industrial sectors, including seafood extraction (fishing) or production (aquaculture) and their associated
industrial processes (Pelletier et al., 2007).
Nevertheless, despite the usefulness of LCA in the fishing sector, it still lacks the comprehensiveness required
to evaluate certain environmental impacts linked to fishing systems, such as direct impacts on fishing
stocks (Pelletier et al., 2007).
Therefore, the main aim of this study is to analyse the milestones that have been developed in fisheries
LCA in the last few years, comprising discussion concerning methodological developments, functional unit
(FU) choice, impact category selection, allocation or life cycle inventory (LCI). Moreover, based on the previous
analysis, a simple and straightforward guideline is proposed to be used as a common denominator in
future LCA studies. Finally, future perspectives regarding methodological innovations in LCA are discussed.
2. Methods
A set of 29 LCA and carbon footprint (CF) studies were obtained from scientific journals, scientific reports,
and chapters from books or contributions to congresses. The selected publications were divided into
the following subdivisions: (i) fishery LCA studies; (ii) seafood processing LCA studies; (iii) food meal
LCAs that include products of marine origin; and (iv) seafood carbon footprint (CF) studies. For more information
on the particular studies revised please check Vazquez et al., 2012c.
3. State-of-the-art of fishery LCA studies
3.1. Worldwide fishery LCA studies
These studies constitute the largest, heterogeneous and prolific group of case studies included in this review.
In contrast with pioneering studies in Scandinavian countries, mainly for cod fisheries (Eyjolfsdottir et
al., 2003; Ziegler et al., 2003), recent studies show deep diversification of evaluated species, gears and fisheries.
However, most studies are still concentrated in fishing fleets belonging to industrialised nations with
important seafood landings, such as Norway, Spain or Canada.
Concerning fishing gears, studies relating to trawls and purse seines have continued to be performed
(Ramos et al., 2011; Ziegler et al., 2011), but novel gears such as long lines(Svanes et al., 2011a; Vázquez-
Rowe et al., 2011) and creels have also been analysed from a life cycle perspective. Artisanal fleets and
gears, however, despite their relevance on a global scale due to the number of vessels and workers involved
in the subsector, have rarely been examined (Ziegler et al., 2011).
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