Environmental assessment of seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and seabream (Sparus aurata) farming from a life cycle perspective: A case study of a Tunisian aquaculture farm

• Published in: Aquaculture
• Main Authors: Abdou, Khaled, Aubin, Joël, Romdhane, Mohamed Salah, Le Loc’h, François, Ben Rais Lasram, Frida
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecosystèmes et Ressources Aquatiques (UR03AGRO1), Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, Sol Agro et hydrosystème Spatialisation (SAS), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), "Institut de Recherche pour le Développement" (JEAI GAMBAS project), "ICV pêche" project, LabexMER ANR-10-LABX-19, ANR-10-LABX-0019,LabexMER,LabexMER Marine Excellence Research: a changing ocean(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: ACL; Sea use; production systems; meramod (r); waste production; use impact category; Fish; Tunisia; mediterranean sea; performance; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Marine aquaculture; benthic impact; biotic resource use; turbot scophthalmus-maximus; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Warming Land; Scophthalmus maximus; Turbot
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02571122; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2017.01.019

WOS:000395508400024 International audience Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to assess potential environmental impacts generated by production of 1 ton of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) on a sea-cage aquaculture farmin Tunisia. The studied farm produces 2100 tons of fish per year. Impact categories included in the current study were acidification, eutrophication, global warming, land occupation, total cumulative energy demand and Net Primary Production Use (NPPuse). In addition, a refinement of "sea use"impact category was proposed to assess impacts of aquaculture on the area of sea required and seabed degradation. Calculations were performed using the software SimaPro (R) 8.0, and the database ecoinvent 3.0 was used for background data. Uncertainty analysis was performed usingMonte-Carlo simulations. Results of this study indicate that seabass rearing has lower mean impact than seabream rearing for all the impact categories considered. However, no significant differences were observed in all the impact categories except the global warming. Fish feed is the main contributor tomost of the impacts studied, which is directly related to production of fish meal and oil as feed ingredients and the large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus released into the environment. Management decisions aiming to optimize production and use of fish feed may have a positive impact on the environmental performance of the farm. It is essential to optimize diet formulation and to followbetter feeding strategies and farming practices (e. g. stock management, feed distribution, accurate ration calculation) to lower feed-conversion ratios and consequently improve the environmental performance of aquaculture farms. LCA is a valuable tool for assessing decisions for improving environmental sustainability of aquaculture because it performs overall impact assessment and helps identify main areas for improvement.