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The European seafood and aquaculture sectors are facing important challenges in terms of environmental threats (climate change, marine debris, resources depletion), social development (worker rights, consumer's awareness) or economic growth (market and nonmarket goods and services, global competitiveness). These issues are forcing all stakeholders, from policy-makers to citizens and industries, to move to more sustainable policies, practices and processes. Consequently, an improvement in collaborations among different parties and beyond borders is required to create more efficient networks along the supply chain of seafood and aquaculture sectors. To achieve this, a â nexus thinkingâ approach (i.e. the analysis of actions in connected systems) combined with a life cycle thinking appears as an excellent opportunity to facilitate the transition to a circular economy.

Abstract In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to assess and compare the environmental and energy profiles of three potential bioenergy production chains using different available feedstocks in Southern European countries. Two wastes, vineyard pruning and eucalypt logging residues, and a wooden energy crop, poplar, were examined in detail. The comparative LCA study showed that the use of poplar biomass for bioenergy production has a greater impact than the use of vineyard pruning and logging residues. The contribution from the poplar-cultivation-related activities considerably affected the results, as all the activities from field preparation to harvesting have been included within the system boundaries. In contrast, all the activities performed in the vineyard and forest prior to collection of the residues have not been computed in both scenarios since they have been allocated to the driving force of these stands: grapes and roundwood, respectively. The results support the idea that forest and agricultural waste would be an interesting and potential raw material for bioenergy purposes. However, further analysis should focus on these potential bioenergy sources, namely in terms of their availability and technical burning conditions, in order to meet energy requirements. Moreover, the environmental results were compared with others from literature corresponding to electricity production using alternative biomass sources and fossil fuels. In all the categories considered for comparison, environmental benefits were reported for the electricity production using a biomass source. However, these results must be carefully used since other issues – such as production costs, water availability and land use – should be considered.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied in many different sectors, but the marine products and seafood segment have received relatively little attention in the past. In recent decades, global fish production experienced sustained growth and peaked at about 179 million tonnes in 2018. Consequently, increased interest in the environmental implications of fishery products along the supply chain, namely from capture to end of life, was recently experienced by society, industry and policy-makers. This timely review aims to describe the current framework of LCA and its application to the seafood sector that mainly focused on fish extraction and processing, but it also encompassed the remaining stages. An excess of 60 studies conducted over the last decade, along with some additional publications, were comprehensively reviewed; these focused on the main LCA methodological choices, including but not limited to, functional unit, system boundaries allocation methods and environmental indicators. The review identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining seafood sector. Specifically, these recommendations include (i) the need for specific indicators for fish-related activities, (ii) the target species and their geographical origin, (iii) knowledge and technology transfer and, (iv) the application and implementation of key recommendations from LCA research that will improve the accuracy of LCA models in this sector. Furthermore, the review comprises a section addressing previous and current challenges of the seafood sector. Wastewater treatment, ghost fishing or climate change, are also the objects of discussion together with advocating support for the water-energy-food nexus as a valuable tool to minimize environmental negativities and to frame successful synergies.

Fisheries and aquaculture are becoming a focus of societal concern driven by globalization and increasing environmental degradation, mainly caused by climate change and marine litter. In response to this problem, the European Atlantic Area NEPTUNUS project aims to support and inform about the sustainability of the seafood sector, boosting the transition towards a circular economy through defining eco-innovation approaches and a steady methodology for eco-labelling products. This timely trans-regional European project proposes key corrective actions for positively influencing resource efficiency by addressing a life cycle thinking and involving all stakeholders in decision-making processes, harnessing the water-energy-seafood nexus. This paper presents inter-related objectives, methodologies and cues to action that will potentially meet these challenges that are aligned with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and European policy frameworks (e.g., Farm to Fork, European Green Deal).