Life Cycle Assessment of Seabass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) Produced in Offshore Fish Farms: Variability and Multiple Regression Analysis

Benjamín García García, Caridad Rosique Jiménez, Felipe Aguado-Giménez and José García García
Additional contact information
Benjamín García García: IMIDA, Calle Mayor s/n, 30150 Alberca de las Torres, Murcia, Spain
Caridad Rosique Jiménez: Campus de Espinardo, Edificio C, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
Felipe Aguado-Giménez: IMIDA, Estación de Acuicultura Marina, Puerto de San Pedro del Pinatar, 30740 San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain
José García García: IMIDA, Calle Mayor s/n, 30150 Alberca de las Torres, Murcia, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: Equations were developed through multiple regression analysis (MRA) to explain the variability of potential environmental impacts (PEIs) estimated by life cycle assessment (LCA). The case studied refers to the production of seabass in basic offshore fish farms. Contribution analysis showed that the components of the system which most influence the potential environmental impacts are the feed (54% of the overall impact) and the fuel consumed by vessels operating in the farm (23%). Feed and fuel varied widely from one fish farm to another due to different factors, such as the efficiency of the feeding system used in each of them, or the distance from the harbor to the farm. Therefore, a number of scenarios (13) were simulated with different values of both factors and the results of the PEI were fitted by MRA to the model: PEI = a + b × Feed + c × Fuel. For all the PEIs, the regression coefficients were significant ( p < 0.05) and R 2 was 1. These equations allow us to estimate simply and quickly very different scenarios that reflect the reality of different farms at the present time, but also future scenarios based on the implementation of technologies that will decrease both feed and fuel consumption.

Keywords: environmental impact; feed; life cycle assessment; offshore fish farm; Dicentrarchus labrax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3523/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3523/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:13:p:3523-:d:243337

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().