Assessing the carbon footprint of seafood
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We have developed tools to help the seafood industry understand the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of wild capture fisheries. These provide a better understanding of the major contributors to the ‘carbon footprint’ of seafood products. Further tools are in development.
Robust data and information are needed to help businesses plan and make informed investment decisions, to drive supply chain transformation.
To reduce the GHGs associated with seafood products, businesses need to first identify and understand their carbon ‘footprint’. Seafood products tend to have several ‘hotspots’ across the supply chain – activities that produce relatively more GHG emissions.
We have worked with the British Standards Institution, the seafood industry and experts from around the world to establish a common approach for assessing these emissions in seafood products. This common approach is set out in the published assessment standard BSi PAS 2050-2:2012 available via the link:
We have also developed web tools to help industry explore the GHG aspects of seafood products from capture fisheries.
Our existing GHG profiling tools focus on seafood products from wild capture fisheries. At the entry level, our simple profiling tool enables industry to produce an indicative carbon profile for seafood products. There is also a more detailed profiling tool which follows the guidelines set out in BSI PAS 2050-2:2012.
The CO2 emissions profile tools can be accessed below:
The detailed tools enable users to explore the carbon implications of sourcing and supplying seafood, to give a better understanding of the major contributors to the ‘carbon footprint’ of their products. It also gives insight into the influence that some aspects of the seafood production chain have on carbon emissions. Major potential drivers of emissions that the tool addresses include direct fuel inputs to fishing, the transport mode used, and the amount of time products are held in cold storage. We have also incorporated yield rates and the degree to which processing co-products (wastes) are used, and users may alter these variables.
Following consultation with stakeholders from across the seafood supply chain, we are redeveloping our seafood emissions profiling tool. This aims to provide a range of benefits to industry, and to support the following outputs:
- A one-stop shop practical resource to enable businesses to identify indicative product carbon footprints for wild caught and aquaculture seafood products.
- Identify emissions hotspots (‘risks’) in product supply chains and provide a focus to drive improvements.
- Enable businesses to benchmark their seafood products against their peers.
- Support the communication of key reputational messaging with customers.
We are working with the seafood sector to ensure the tools meets their needs and expectations. This includes feedback from workshops and the findings of a commissioned report, conducted by a recognised Life-Cycle Assessment and carbon expert. Outputs were peer-reviewed by recognised scientific researchers in the to shape the project specification.
Ongoing industry engagement – including design workshops and Beta-testing – will ensure the Tool is aligned with what businesses need. Our Advisory Panel, made up of leading UK researchers, will also bring scientific expertise. The first phase (wild capture supply chains) of the Tool is due to be launched November 2023 and will replace our existing CO2 emissions profile tools.
The redevelopment project centres on an exciting partnership between Seafish and Blonk Sustainability Tools, a leading environmental foot-printing software developer and data / methodology specialist.
Terms and conditions for using the tools are at the bottom of this page.
Please note: this tool is intended for information purposes only and is not intended to prove the carbon footprint of a seafood product.
Get in touch
If you would like to find out more about our carbon profiling work, please contact: climate@seafish.co.uk
- Introduction
1.1 Use of our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profiling Tool (“the Tool”) is conditional upon you accepting the following terms and conditions (“the Terms”).
1.2 Please read these Terms of use carefully before you start to use the Tool, as these will apply to your use of the Tool. We recommend that you print a copy of these Terms for future reference.
1.3 By using the Tool, you confirm that you accept these Terms and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not accept these Terms then you are not permitted to use the Tool.
- Our Details
The Tool is provided by Seafish Industry Authority, a statutory body established under the Fisheries Act 1981 with a place of business at 18 Logie Mill, Logie Green Road, Edinburgh EH7 4HS (“Seafish”, “us”, “our” or “we”) and has been constructed by researchers at Seafish, Dalhousie University (a Canadian University with its principal office in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada B3H 4R2) and SINTEF (an independent research organisation with its principle office in Stiftelsen Sintef, Box 4760 Sluppen, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway) (our “Partners”).
- Availability of the tool
3.1 We do not guarantee that the Tool, or any content on it, will always be available or that access to the Tool will be uninterrupted and we reserve the right to (without prior notice):
3.1.1 suspend, withdraw or change any part of the Tool at any time; or
3.1.2 restrict access to the entire Tool or parts of the Tool.
3.2 We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the unavailability of the Tool or parts of the Tool, for any reason and for any length of time.
- Use of the tool/tool results
4.1 You must only use the Tool for lawful purposes and you must not:
4.1.1 interfere with, damage or disrupt any part of the Tool, any equipment or network on which the Tool is stored or any software used in the provision of the Tool;
4.1.2 knowingly introduce viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful; or
4.1.3 attack the Tool via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack, by breaching these provisions, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement agencies/authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Tool will cease immediately.
4.2 The Tool does not require users to submit any personal data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998). You warrant that any such submission of data, information or content to the Tool shall not contain any personal data, and you will be liable to us and indemnify us for any breach of that warranty.
4.3 You are responsible for ensuring that all persons (including but limited to, any of your employees, agents or representatives) who access the Tool through your internet connection are aware of these Terms and that they comply with them.
- Intellectual property and confidentiality
5.1 We, in conjunction with our Partners, are the owners or the licensees of all intellectual property rights in the Tool and the Tool Results (as defined below). The Tool and the Tool Results are protected by copyright laws and all such rights are reserved to us and our Partners, and third party data providers.
5.2 You may print off one copy of any page(s) from the Tool and the Tool Results for your own internal business purposes only. You must not use any Tool Results for commercial purposes without first obtaining a licence from us, our Partners and/or our licensors.
5.3 Except as permitted under applicable law and by these Terms under condition 5.2, you must not use, copy, publish, licence, sell, adapt or translate the Tool or any part of the Tool, without our consent. Furthermore, you must not copy, publish, licence, sell, adapt or translate any information, data or other results created or generated by the Tool (“the Tool Results”).
5.4 Neither we, nor our Partners store any:
5.4.1 data or content you input into the Tool;
5.4.2 or any Tool Results,
therefore, we cannot provide you with a copy of any historic Tool Results previously generated by you.
5.5 Any data or content you upload to the Tool will be done at your own risk with data considered non-confidential and non-proprietary.
- Third party content
The Tool include links to other internet sites and/or resources provided by third parties (including our Partners and the British Standards Institute). These links are provided for your information only and we do not control those sites and/or resources, and we accept no responsibility for them for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of any third party sites, resources or content.
- Linking to the tool
7.1 The Tool must not be framed on any other site and you must not establish a link to the Tool on any other site without permission.
7.2 If you wish to use any Tool Results for a purpose or in a manner other than that set out above, please address your request to carbon@seafish.co.uk
- Our liability
8.1 The Tool and the Tool Results are not intended to amount to advice or guidance on which reliance should be placed. We therefore disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such Tool Results by any users of the Tool, or by anyone who may be informed of or provided with any Tool Results.
8.2 We make no guarantees that the Tool is free from computer viruses. It is strongly recommended that you check for such viruses before using the Tool or any of its contents.
8.3 The Tool and the Tool Results are provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to their accuracy or completeness and we cannot guarantee that the Tool or the Tool Results will be free of any errors or omissions. It is your responsibility to ensure the accuracy and completeness of any information or data submitted by you or any other user of the Tool.
8.4 To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties and other terms which may apply to the Tool and/or Tool Results, whether express or implied.
8.5 Please note that in particular, we will not be liable for any loss or damage, whether in contract, delict (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising out of or in connection with:
8.5.1 use of or inability to use the Tool;
8.5.2 any Tool Results, or reliance upon them;
8.5.3 loss of profits/revenue, sales, anticipated savings, contracts, business or business opportunity;
8.5.4 business interruption;
8.5.5 loss of goodwill or reputation;
8.5.6 any loss or corruption of data (including software) or information; or
8.5.7 any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
8.6 This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
- General
9.1 If we fail to enforce any provision of the Terms, that failure will not preclude us from enforcing either that provision (or any similar provision) on a later occasion.
9.2 Nothing in these Terms shall confer on any third party any benefit or the right to enforce any term of the Terms.
9.3 We reserve the right to amend or replace the Terms at any time and any such amendments or replacement terms shall be binding on you. If we make any substantial changes we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on the Tool.
9.4 We may update the Tool from time to time and may change the content at any time. However, please note that any of the content on our Tool may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update it.
- Jurisdiction and applicable law
10.1 The Scottish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, use of the Tool.
10.2 These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Scots law.