Carbon Footprint Assessment of a Seabass Farm on the Mediterranean Moroccan Coast

Abstract

Abstract The present study assesses the carbon footprint of the only operating marine fish farm in Morocco. Five years of data were used to assess its carbon footprint, following ISO/TS 14067 standard, the PAS 2050 and the IPCC 2006 guidelines. The obtained carbon footprint ranged from 2.34 to 2.85 kg CO2e/kg. The emission value for 2017 is 38% lower than the highest value. Fish feed contributes most to the carbon footprint of the farm. Based on PAS 2050, the inshore cage farming product ranks in the same category as dairy products. Furthermore, the comparison showed that it is almost 67% lower than the carbon footprint of other protein production. This study evaluates some scenarios for reducing the carbon footprint of the fish farm, which can be a basis for further studies.