Life cycle assessment of a novel closed-containment salmon aquaculture technology

Keegan P. McGrath, Nathan L. Pelletier, Peter H. Tyedmers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In salmonid aquaculture, a variety of technologies have been deployed that attempt to limit a range of environmental impacts associated with net-pen culture. One such technology employs a floating, solid-walled enclosure as the primary culture environment, providing greater potential control over negative interactions with surroundings waters while limiting energy use required for water circulation, thermo-regulation and supplemental oxygen provision. Here, we utilize life cycle assessment to model contributions to a suite of global-scale resource depletion and environmental concerns (including global warming potential, acidification potential, marine eutrophication potential, cumulative energy use, and biotic resource use) of such a technology deployed commercially to rear Chinook salmon in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Results indicate that at full grow-out, feed provisioning and on-site energy use dominate contributions across four of five impact categories assessed. For example, per tonne of salmon harvested, feed contributed approximately 72% to global warming potential, 72% to acidification potential, and accounted for 100% of biotic resource use. However, for both feed and on-site energy use, impacts are heavily influenced by specific sources of inputs; therefore efforts to improve the environmental performance of this technology should focus on reducing these in favor of less impactful alternatives.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5628-5636
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume49
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 5 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Chemical Society.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Environmental Chemistry

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