Life cycle assessment of recirculating aquaculture systems: A case of Atlantic salmon farming in China

Abstract

Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are an alternative technology to tackle the major environmental challenges associated with conventional cage culture systems. In order to systematically assess the environmental performance of RAS farming, it is important to take the whole life cycle into account so as to avoid ad hoc and suboptimal environmental measures. So far, the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in aquaculture, especially to indoor RAS, is still in progress. This study reports on an LCA of Atlantic salmon harvested at an indoor RAS farm in northern China. Results showed that 1 tonne live‐weight salmon production required 7,509 kWh farm‐level electricity and generated 16.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (eq), 106 kg of SO2 eq, 2.4 kg of P eq, and 108 kg of N eq (cradle‐to‐farm gate). In particular, farm‐level electricity use and feed product were identified as primary contributors to eight of nine impact categories assessed (54–95% in total), except the potential marine eutrophication (MEU) impact (dominated by the grow‐out effluents). Among feed ingredients (on a dry‐weight basis), chicken meal (5%) and krill meal (8%) dominated six and three, respectively, of the nine impact categories. Suggested environmental improvement measures for this indoor RAS farm included optimization of stocking density, feeding management, grow‐out effluent treatment, substitution of feed ingredients, and selection of electricity generation sources. In a generic context, this study can contribute to a better understanding of the life cycle environmental impacts of land‐based salmon RAS operations, as well as science‐based communication among stakeholders on more eco‐friendly farmed salmon.

Sustainability of Mussel (Mytilus Galloprovincialis) Farming in the Po River Delta, Northern Italy, Based on a Life Cycle Assessment Approach

“…Although LCA has been already largely used in industry and agriculture sectors, studies for aquaculture have been developed only recently, and are mainly focused on intensive farming systems, including salmon [29,30], rainbow trout [31], shrimp [32,33], sea bass, sea bream [34,35] and tilapia [36]. In particular, mussel farming has already been examined in an LCA perspective in Spain [37,38], in France [39], in Algeria [40], and in Scotland [41].…”

Evaluation of environmental and economic implications of a cold‐weather aquaponic food production system using life cycle assessment and economic analysis

“…With respect to environmental sustainability, many studies evaluated the environmental impacts of aquaponics (Bohnes et al, 2018;Cohen et al, 2018;Kalvakaalva, 2020;Maucieri et al, 2018;Somerville et al, 2014;Song et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2019). Cohen et al (2018) found that combined aquaponic fish-vegetable production would result in significant reduction of impacts in eutrophication, water intake (water use), and geographic footprint (land use) environmental impact categories, compared to large-scale traditional non-integrated production (Cohen et al, 2018).…”

Assessment of Flavobacterium psychrophilum‐associated mortality in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

“…Salmon and trout aquaculture have increased over the past few decades, and demand continues to increase, particularly for cultured Atlantic salmon, where 2.4 million tonnes were produced in 2018 (FAO, 2020). Currently, farmed Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) account for approximately 60% of the world's salmon production (Song et al., 2019). Further, there has been a growing interest in inland Atlantic salmon production, as most production take places in marine cage culture, where there have been many reports of disease issues related to production (Song et al.…”

“…Further, there has been a growing interest in inland Atlantic salmon production, as most production take places in marine cage culture, where there have been many reports of disease issues related to production (Song et al. 2019). Worldwide, freshwater farmed salmonids are severely affected by Flavobacterium psychrophilum a widely distributed Gram‐negative, rod‐shaped bacterium that is responsible for considerable economic losses for salmonid production.…”