An Environmental Impact Assessment of Largemouth Bass ( Micropterus salmoides ) Aquaculture in Hangzhou, China

Haochen Hou, Anqi Ren, Lixingbo Yu, Zhen Ma (), Yun Zhang and Ying Liu
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Haochen Hou: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture (Dalian Ocean University) Ministry of Education, 52 Heishijiao Street, Dalian 116023, China
Anqi Ren: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture (Dalian Ocean University) Ministry of Education, 52 Heishijiao Street, Dalian 116023, China
Lixingbo Yu: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture (Dalian Ocean University) Ministry of Education, 52 Heishijiao Street, Dalian 116023, China
Zhen Ma: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture (Dalian Ocean University) Ministry of Education, 52 Heishijiao Street, Dalian 116023, China
Yun Zhang: Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, 2 Linggong Road, Dalian 116024, China
Ying Liu: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture (Dalian Ocean University) Ministry of Education, 52 Heishijiao Street, Dalian 116023, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: With the rapid increase in aquaculture production, its role in food safety and nutritional security has become increasingly important, but this has also given rise to environmental problems that cannot be ignored. The largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides ) has become a widely cultivated and highly economic freshwater farmed species since it was introduced to China in 1983; however, the environmental impacts of its freshwater pond aquaculture process have not yet been elucidated. Here, life cycle assessment (LCA), a decision-making tool that can evaluate and identify environmental issues during production processes, was used to evaluate the environmental performance of the largemouth bass freshwater pond aquaculture process, and a large-scale, commercial company was selected as an example in Hangzhou, China. The results showed that the pond-farming stage and marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential (MAETP) had the largest environmental impacts on the entire aquaculture process. An environmental contribution analysis indicated that electricity (48%) and emissions (23%) were two key factors in the seed-rearing stage, and electricity (60%) and feeds (26%) were two main impact contributors in the pond-farming stage. Improvement measures based on emerging technologies in aquaculture were discussed, namely, clean energies, industrial pond farming, and intelligent feeding strategies, to help with decision making for continuous improvement in the environmental performance of largemouth bass pond farming. Moreover, suggestions for further aquaculture LCA studies in China were summarized, as they will provide a useful reference for promoting the development of China’s aquaculture LCA research and the enrichment of the world’s aquaculture life cycle inventory databases.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; energy consumption; environmental impact; industrial pond farming; intelligent feeding strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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