South East Trawl Fish Found to have Low Carbon Footprint

Marine capture fisheries account for 1.2 per cent of global oil consumption and emit >130 million tons of CO₂ annually.

Greenhouse gas emissions were measured for fish from capture to wholesale and converted into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO_2e) using Life Cycle assessment (LCA), a standardised method for assessing and comparing the resource inputs and emissions of products across supply chains.

5.2kg CO_2e are emitted per kilo of fish, 60 per cent of which is at the capture stage. In comparison to other products, fish from the SETF has a low carbon footprint. For example, Tasmanian Southern Rock Lobster has a footprint of 17.6kg CO_2e /kg and Banana Prawn from the Northern Prawn fishery 7.6kg CO_2e /kg.

More broadly, the global average for aquaculture prawns is 15kg CO_2e /kg, Basa, 9 kg CO_2e /kg, and Salmon up to 5.4kg CO_2e /kg.

For agricultural production, carbon footprints range from 9-129 kg CO_2e/kg for beef and 2-6 kg CO_2e/kg for poultry.