Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of aquaculture ingredients

Aquaculture has recently emerged as an alternative to catching fish through marine capture which, according to FAO, is currently experiencing unsustainable levels. However, the growth of the aquaculture industry raises some environmental concerns regarding its dependence on the exploitation of marine resources used in aquaculture diets. Currently, the formulation of most compound feed for fish also depends on flour and fish oils. However, some recent studies have focused on the possibility of replacing these marine animal resources with plant sources, promoting the sustainability of aquaculture and the preservation of marine resources. Many studies have shown the feasibility of this substitution, both biologically and physiologically, for various species of fish. However, the environmental impacts associated with these new ingredients are still, in most cases, unknown. This study takes an approach in this direction in order to promote a first comparative evaluation between the various ingredients of animal and vegetal origin. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology adopted is described by the norm NP EN ISO 14040 of 2008, and conducts a comparative study, as far as possible, focusing on the environmental performance of some ingredients with interest for incorporation into compound feed for fish. The ingredients under study are: flour and oil fish by-products (Savinor S.A.), flour and fat of poultry by-products (Savinor S.A.), flour and fish oil from Peru, and flour and soybean oil from Brazil. This work was carried out based on the project PP-IJUP2012-SOJA DE PORTUGAL- 8, with the support of Soja de Portugal, which provided relevant data on the inventory of materials, energy and water used in the production of some of the ingredients studied. In the evaluation of the environmental impacts of the selected ingredients, it was considered from the production or capture of the raw material until its processing and transportation to Portugal, where they must be processed and transformed into pellets of compound ingredients for fish. The methodology used in the evaluation was the CML 2001 method and 13 categories of environmental impact were taken into account. The results allowed to conclude that the ingredients: flour and fat of poultry by - products are the ingredients, proteins and lipids, which present the greatest environmental impact associated. Chicken production is the life cycle stage that contributes most to all the selected impact categories. On the other hand, the flour and fish oil of Peru and the flour and soybean oil were the ingredients that had the lowest associated impacts. In Peruvian fish meal and fish oil, the transportation phase, including road transport from Lima (Peru) to Caracas (Venezuela), contributed most to the environmental impact. Flour and oil from fish by-products when compared to Peruvian fish meal and fish oil have shown worse environmental performance for the same impact categories. In fish meal and oil byproducts, the life cycle stage with the highest environmental weight in all impact categories was fish catch. This study allows a unique and individual knowledge of the environmental impact associated with the ingredients selected, and commonly used by the compound feed industry, allowing awareness for the environment, and consequently the choice of more sustainable ingredients.