Title
Life cycle assessment of fish and seafood processed products – A review of methodologies and new challenges
Date Issued
20 March 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
review
Author(s)
Ruiz-Salmón I.
Laso J.
Margallo M.
Rodríguez E.
Quinteiro P.
Dias A.C.
Almeida C.
Nunes M.L.
Marques A.
Cortés A.
Moreira M.T.
Feijoo G.
Loubet P.
Sonnemann G.
Morse A.P.
Cooney R.
Clifford E.
Regueiro L.
Méndez D.
Anglada C.
Noirot C.
Rowan N.
Aldaco R.
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied in many different sectors, but the marine products and seafood segment have received relatively little attention in the past. In recent decades, global fish production experienced sustained growth and peaked at about 179 million tonnes in 2018. Consequently, increased interest in the environmental implications of fishery products along the supply chain, namely from capture to end of life, was recently experienced by society, industry and policy-makers. This timely review aims to describe the current framework of LCA and its application to the seafood sector that mainly focused on fish extraction and processing, but it also encompassed the remaining stages. An excess of 60 studies conducted over the last decade, along with some additional publications, were comprehensively reviewed; these focused on the main LCA methodological choices, including but not limited to, functional unit, system boundaries allocation methods and environmental indicators. The review identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining seafood sector. Specifically, these recommendations include (i) the need for specific indicators for fish-related activities, (ii) the target species and their geographical origin, (iii) knowledge and technology transfer and, (iv) the application and implementation of key recommendations from LCA research that will improve the accuracy of LCA models in this sector. Furthermore, the review comprises a section addressing previous and current challenges of the seafood sector. Wastewater treatment, ghost fishing or climate change, are also the objects of discussion together with advocating support for the water-energy-food nexus as a valuable tool to minimize environmental negativities and to frame successful synergies.
Volume
761
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Alimentos y bebidas
Ingeniería industrial
Pesquería
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85099203031
PubMed ID
Source
Science of the Total Environment
ISSN of the container
00489697
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by the EAPA_576/2018 NEPTUNUS project. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Interreg Atlantic Area.
Ana Cláudia Dias and Paula Quinteiro acknowledge FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM ( UIDB/50017/2020 + UIDP/50017/2020 ), through national funds, and to the research contracts CEECIND/02174/2017 and CEECIND/00143/2017, respectively.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus