Co-product allocation in life cycle assessments of seafood production systems: Review of problems and strategies

Ayer, Nathan W.; Tyedmers, Peter; Pelletier, Nathan; Sonesson, Ulf; Scholz, Astrid

doi:10.1007/s11367-006-0284-2

Cited by 61 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Allocating based on the energy content, in this case, would be similar to a mass allocation and the logic behind choosing economic allocation was that it is the high economic value of the Norway lobsters that drives this fishery, not the lower value by-catch that is also landed. In storage and transports, volume or mass allocation is sometimes considered to be the most appropriate choice Thrane 2004a;Ayer et al 2007). In this case, however, storage was not limited by mass or volume, neither at the auction, wholesaler, nor retailer, which is why economic allocation was chosen in these phases too.…”

Section: Co-product Allocation Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental life cycle assessment of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught along the Swedish west coast by creels and conventional trawls—LCA methodology with case study

Ziegler

Valentinsson

2008

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Background, aim, and scope Two fishing methods, creeling and conventional trawling, are used to target Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), economically the second most important species in Swedish west coast fisheries. The goal was to evaluate overall resource use and environmental impact caused by production of this seafood with the two different fishing methods using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Materials and methods The inventory covered the entire chain starting by production of supply materials and the fishery itself, through seafood auctioning, wholesaling, retailing, to the consumer. That portion of the life cycle occurring on land was assumed to be identical for Norway lobsters regardless as to how they were caught. The functional unit was 300 g of edible meat (i.e., Norway lobster tails), corresponding to 1 kg of whole, boiled Norway lobsters. The seafloor impact of trawling was quantified using a recently developed methodology. Results Major differences were found between the fishing methods with regard to environmental impact: creeling was found to be more efficient than conventional trawling in all traditional impact categories and in the two additional fishery-related categories involving seafloor impact and discarding. Since the quality of the creel-caught Nephrops was higher, the difference was probably even higher than indicated here. Discussion Major improvement potential was identified in the more widespread use of creels and species-selective trawls. The only deficiencies of creel fishing were poorer working environment and safety, and a potentially higher risk of recruitment overfishing. However, these issues could be handled by technological development and fisheries regulations and should not hamper the development of creel fishery. Conclusions Improvement options were identified and quantified for the Swedish Nephrops fishery. The study demonstrates how LCA can be used to compare the environmental performance of different segments of a fishery. Recommendations and perspectives Shifting to creeling and species-selective trawling would lead to considerably lower discard, fuel use, and seafloor impact while providing consumers with the same amount of Norway lobsters.

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Section: Co-product Allocation Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental life cycle assessment of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught along the Swedish west coast by creels and conventional trawls—LCA methodology with case study

Ziegler

Valentinsson

2008

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…In these steps, the environmental burden must be distributed among the outputs. Ayer et al (2007) reviewed the allocation methodology used in fish product LCA and identified four main life cycle stages where allocation is often used. For wild fish, the fishing and processing stages are appropriate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A third option suggested in the ISO standard is the avoided product approach described by Ayer et al (2007), Thrane (2005Thrane ( , 2006. Thrane calculated the impact of flatfish products by calculating the impact of separate fisheries of all seven species by-products and subtracting the impacts of each of these species from the total impact of flatfish fishery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of different allocation methods on LCA results of products from wild-caught fish and on the use of such results

Svanes

Vold

Hanssen

2011

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose The purpose of this study has been to investigate the effect of different allocation methods on life cycle assessment (LCA) results of products derived from linecaught cod and the consequences of applying these methods considering the main aims of this case study. These aims were for internal improvement work and communication of results to the market. Methods Standard LCA methodology was applied. Mass allocation, economic allocation, a novel hybrid allocation and gross energy content allocation have been tested on a case study, and the results are discussed. In the case study, allocation problems in the studied case arose in the fishing and processing stages. Avoidance of allocation by splitting of processes, biological causality and system expansion or the avoided product approach was deemed to be not feasible. Results and discussion Economic allocation gave a much larger spread of impacts between the different products than mass allocation, especially for processing residue, due to large price differences. Hybrid allocation gave impacts in between mass and economic allocation because the set factors give a higher value for products that are for human consumption. Energy allocation gave results close to mass allocation because the energy content is quite similar in different species and products. Economic allocation is sensitive to price changes, the others are not. When used for evaluating environmental performance improvement measures that change the relative yields for human consumption and other purposes, the different methods used reflected very different results. When used in communication to the market, the different allocation methods yield results that could lead to different behaviours by market actors. Conclusions The different allocation methods gave very different results for the studied products; hence in order to achieve comparability between products, the same method must be used in all the cases. Different allocation methods might be appropriate for different purposes. For external communication to the market, mass allocation might be the preferred method in most cases. For internal improvement work, both economic and mass allocation could be used, but economic allocation might be the best alternative. The comparability of LCA results of products from wild-caught fish is limited, due to the lack of an agreed standard method. It is recommended to consider the different applications of the results when developing such a method. Different purposes might require different methodological choices, e.g. allocation methodology.

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“…In previous studies mass, monetary value, energy, and protein have all been used as allocation keys [24]. The choice of functional unit can also be an important methodological choice when comparing fisheries because certain fisheries may perform better when assessed in terms of per-mass environmental burden, whereas others may perform better when assessed in economic terms [25]. Based on the above, in this research, two standards (mass and monetary value) often used in the fisheries market were both adopted as functional units.…”

Section: Operation Of the Small Trawlersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of feeding aquaculture, feed represents the main environmental burden. Regarding methodologies, Parker and Tyedmers [24] expanded a discussion of the functional unit, and Ayer et al [25] discussed allocation. Parker [26] conducted the comprehensive LCA reviews for features of fisheries and aquacultures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis for a Small-Scale Trawl Fishery in Sendai Bay, Japan

Watanabe¹,

Tahara

2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:A reduced environmental burden, while maintaining high quality and low cost, has become an important factor for achieving sustainability in the fisheries sector. The authors performed life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis targeting the fish production for a small-scale trawl fishery including small trawlers operating in Sendai Bay, Japan. The average annual cumulative CO 2 emissions for the small trawlers were 4.7 ton-CO 2 /ton-product and 8.3 ton-CO 2 /million Japanese yen (JPN). Total fuel consumption contributed to 97% of the global warming potential. The range of variation in the basic unit of CO 2 for each small trawler was also elucidated. Energy conservation through lower fuel consumption is shown to be an effective measure for reducing CO 2 in a small trawler fishery. Moreover, the authors examined the system boundary, the determination of the functional unit, and the allocation method of applying LCI analysis to fisheries. Finally, the economy and environment of small trawler fisheries are discussed as important factors for sustainable fisheries, and the life cycle approach is applied to a new fishery type in Japan.

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Co-product allocation in life cycle assessments of seafood production systems: Review of problems and strategies

Cited by 61 publications

References 10 publications

Environmental life cycle assessment of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught along the Swedish west coast by creels and conventional trawls—LCA methodology with case study

Environmental life cycle assessment of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught along the Swedish west coast by creels and conventional trawls—LCA methodology with case study

Effect of different allocation methods on LCA results of products from wild-caught fish and on the use of such results

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis for a Small-Scale Trawl Fishery in Sendai Bay, Japan

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