Life cycle assessment of seabass and seabream production in the Mediterranean area: A critical review

Background: In Mediterranean countries, the production of seabream and seabass has grown steadily over the last decades, and this trend is expected to continue. At the same time, sustainability has become a key question, and sustainable management strategies are needed to reduce the environmental impact of this sector. A holistic perspective is required to fully assess the environmental profile of fish production, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered the most suitable approach for this purpose. Scope and approach: This review aims to analyse all LCA studies regarding seabass and seabream farming in the Mediterranean area. In particular, the main methodological choices were analysed, the main critical points and gaps were identified, and the main hotspots and key results were highlighted. Key findings and conclusions: The mass-based functional unit and the from-cradle-to-farm-gate system boundaries were selected in all studies. One of the main issues is the lack of transparency regarding some inventory data and sub-processes included in the assessment. The most common findings are the large environmental impact associated with feed and the large influence of the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) on environmental performance. However, further studies are needed to investigate this topic and to evaluate fish farming with the use of more sustainable feeds. Therefore, in the future, it will be necessary to perform further LCA studies and, for an overall sustainability assessment, the energy, economic and social aspects will also to be increasingly taken into consideration.