Many seafood businesses and those working in the seafood sector are finding that responding positively to climate change is the smart choice. There are significant opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability by reducing CO2 emissions.
The new tool, devised by Seafish, in collaboration with Dr Peter Tyedmers of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management, is aimed at the catching and processing sectors and is intended to provide an insight into the emission hotspots within the seafood production chain. By inputting key data on fishing and harvesting methods, the mode of transport used, pre- and post-processing techniques and the amount of time products are held in cold storage, the user will gain a broad overview of the CO2 implications of their supply chain, and in the first instance identify key emission hotspots.
* "In the future businesses will be able to review their products and business activities against this standard" |
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Angus Garrett, Senior Economist, Seafish.
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“This tool is robust, easy to use and flexible and can be used before undertaking a full formal analysis of CO2 emissions to provide information that quickly identifies areas that need attention,” said Angus Garrett, Senior Economist, Seafish.
“All seafood businesses need to be aware of how much CO2 they are producing. This tool is a small step in the right direction. It is important to develop a common methodology for measuring emissions. In the future businesses will be able to review their products and business activities against this standard,” he said.
Dr Peter Tyedmers of Dalhousie University goes further. “This tool is important as it provides a sound basis upon which anyone can explore the major drivers of the carbon intensity of seafood. While it is not meant to provide a definitive analysis of the carbon intensity of seafood products, it is far more robust and nuanced than ‘carbon calculators’ that claim to do much more.”
Lucy Pelham Burn, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, New England Seafood found the tool a very useful indicator. “CO2 emissions are an important consideration for us all and the UK market is to an extent necessarily reliant on imported fish to supplement our national fish production. Fish is quite often produced by complex supply chains therefore it’s useful to have a dedicated tool to help illustrate where in the supply chain the emissions may occur - so allowing importers, processors and sellers alike to mitigate those wherever possible.”
Anyone looking for a definitive carbon footprint for a seafood product should contact the Carbon Trust: www.carbontrust.co.uk
Further Reading
 | - | View the new profiling tool by clicking here. |