This study is focussing on the environmental sustainability of marine resource use in the pilot regions with the goal of supplying a complementary perspective to the work on social and governance conducted in the project. In each pilot region, a case study of marine resource use was analysed using life cycle analyse (LCA) focussing on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of current and potential future production of marine foods and products. By quantifying GHG emissions, a comparison of current practises and potential future production is possible and through the identification of emission hot-spots, concrete improvement actions can be identified.
The following products were analysed in the different pilot regions:
-Estonia: Furcellaran from fished or farmed red seaweed
-Italy: Co-production of canned tuna loins and bottarga (cured tuna roe)
-Greenland: Atlantic cod filets and potential byproduct uses
Results from the LCA showed that the fishing stage of the production system contributes the most to the carbon footprint of the different products produced today. The use of farmed instead of fished seaweed was identified as an improvement option for the Estonian case study, due to the lower GHG emissions of farming operations compared to fishing. The Italian case study showed the importance of method choice in LCA analyses of production systems with byproducts (like tuna trimmings) and in the Greenland case study the lowering of carbon footprints through increased byproduct utilisation could be demonstrated.