Shaping sustainability of seafood from capture fisheries integrating the perspectives of supply chain stakeholders through combining systems analysis tools

Sara Hornborg,Friederike Ziegler,Anthony D M Smith,Alistair J Hobday,Bridget S Green,Mark Gibbs

doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsy081

Abstract

Abstract Seafood from capture fisheries can be assessed in many ways and for different purposes, with sometimes divergent views on what characterizes “sustainable use”. Here we use two systems analysis tools—Ecological Risk Assessment for Effects of Fishing (ERAEF) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)—over the historical development of the Australian Patagonian toothfish fishery at Heard and McDonald Islands since the start in 1997. We find that ecological risks have been systematically identified in the management process using ERAEF, and with time have been mitigated, resulting in a lower risk fishery from an ecological impact perspective. LCA inventory data from the industry shows that fuel use per kilo has increased over the history of the fishery. Our results suggest that LCA and ERAEF may provide contrasting and complementary perspectives on sustainability and reveal trade-offs when used in combination. Incorporation of LCA perspectives in assessing impacts of fishing may facilitate refinement of ecosystem-based fisheries management, such as improved integration of the different perspectives of supply chain stakeholders.

Highlights

In a globalized world with increasing pressures from human activities (Steffen et al, 2015), it has been argued that there is a need for improved recognition of off-site impacts in ecosystem assessments through use of systems analysis tools, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) frameworks (Pascual et al, 2017)
The first ERAEF (2007) reported very low interactions with birds and mammals for the legal Heard Island and McDonald Island (HIMI) fishery, and a low Scale intensity consequence analysis (SICA) risk score for protected species (Supplementary Data S2); a total of three birds had been killed since the start of the longline fishery, and a total of ten birds were observed as killed in the demersal trawl fishery from 1997 to 2005
From an ERA perspective, management has been effective in reducing local ecological risks from the Patagonian toothfish fishery at HIMI over time

Summary

Introduction

In a globalized world with increasing pressures from human activities (Steffen et al, 2015), it has been argued that there is a need for improved recognition of off-site impacts in ecosystem assessments through use of systems analysis tools, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) frameworks (Pascual et al, 2017). One widely used ERA example is the Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Fishing (ERAEF), a place-based management tool to address the ecological risks of fishing (Hobday et al, 2011). This risk-based approach is extensively used in management of Commonwealth fisheries in Australia and elsewhere, and has contributed to ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM; Scandol et al, 2005).

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