Life cycle assessment of Icelandic Atlantic salmon Aquaculture

• Main Author: Banze, Ilídio Sebastião, 1974-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Umhverfis- og auðlindafræði; Laxeldi; Umhverfisáhrif; Tálknafjörður; Patreksfjörður; Atlantic salmon; Iceland; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/10321

This study analysed the environmental impacts of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farmed in sea cages in Tálknafjörður, North West of Iceland. Methodologically the study was based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and the functional unit was 1 metric tonne of the whole Atlantic salmon produced in sea cage system and delivered to a processing plant in Patreksfjörður. The life cycle model included the feed production (including feed raw materials production), hatchery, sea-cage farm, faming equipment and transportation at all stages. The impact assessment method used was CML 2001 performed in GaBi 4 Education software, and the impact categories assessed were: acidification potential, eutrophication potential, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential, global worming potential, human toxicity potential, marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential, ozone layer depletion potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential, and depletion of abiotic resources. The results revealed that feed production (feed raw materials production, its transportation and feed milling) make the most significant environmental impact, and eutrophication potential resulting from the nutrient emissions (mainly phosphorus and nitrogen) from the salmon farm is the most significant single impact. A scenario analysis examining the most impacting parts of the studied system showed that an electrical feeding system has a better environmental performance than using boat for feeding operations, and that the fish species used for fishmeal and oil can have a considerable influence on the environmental performance of the fish feed. It also came out that the distance that some of the feed ingredients were shipped from, make some contribution to the impacts, and that the shift to closer raw materials purchasing market could potentially reduce the environmental impacts associated with feed production. Í þessum rannsóknum voru metin umhverfisáhrif sem tengjast eldi á laxi (Salmo salar) í kvíum í Tálknafirði, Vestfjörðum. Beitt var ...