Environmental performance of blue foods

Area of Science:

• Aquatic food systems
• Environmental science
• Sustainable agriculture

Background:

• Blue foods are crucial for sustainable diets but lack comprehensive environmental impact data.
• Existing studies often exclude the vast diversity of aquatic food production.
• Standardized environmental assessments are needed for informed dietary choices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide standardized environmental impact estimates for diverse blue food production.
• To compare greenhouse gas, nutrient, freshwater, and land stressors across various aquatic foods.
• To identify high-performing blue foods and opportunities for environmental improvement.

Main Methods:

• Standardized estimation of environmental stressors (GHG, N, P, freshwater, land) for global blue food production.
• Analysis of species groups covering nearly 75% of global production.
• Modeling of intervention scenarios to assess impact reduction strategies.

Main Results:

• Farmed bivalves and seaweeds exhibit the lowest environmental stressors.
• Capture fisheries' primary impact is greenhouse gas emissions; small pelagic fish are lower emitters than fed aquaculture.
• Farmed silver and bighead carps have low GHG, N, and P emissions but high water use; salmon and trout have low land and water use.

Conclusions:

• Analysis identifies high-performing blue foods and opportunities to enhance environmental performance.
• The study advances environmental assessments for data-poor aquatic food production.
• Findings inform the development of sustainable diets and food systems.