Authors: David Baptista de Sousa, João Pontes, Mafalda Rangel and Ana G. Cabado
ABSTRACT:
Small-scale fisheries can exhibit substantial operational heterogeneity, and mass-based life cycle assessment (LCA) does not capture the nutritional function of seafood. This study assessed the environmental performance and nutrient density of common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) landed by the Algarve artisanal fleet. A 2023 inventory covering 31 vessels (20 local and 11 coastal; 14Windward [WW] and 17 Leeward [LW]) was modelled using Environmental Footprint (EF) 3.1, with ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) as a sensitivity analysis. Nutritional uncertainty was propagated through 1000 Monte Carlo iterations, while environmental robustness was assessed through contribution analysis and LCIA-method sensitivity. Impacts were expressed per 100 points of an exploratory nutrient-density index incorporating 17 positive and two limiting components (NRF17.2-Ov). Fuel-use intensity
(FUI) was 0.71 L/kg for local and 1.10 L/kg for coastal; climate-change impacts were 3.26 and 3.88 kg CO eq/kg, respectively. LW exceeded WW in 24 of 25 reported EF indicators. Diesel dominated climate change and marine eutrophication, whereas fishing gear
dominated freshwater eutrophication. NRF17.2-Ov scores were 269 forWWand 299 for LW (P [LW > WW] = 0.93). Nutritional normalization reduced the LW-WW environmental gap to 9–36% but did not change the ordering. Fuel efficiency, gear durability and bait traceability appear as the main improvement priorities.
Keywords: life cycle assessment; Octopus vulgaris; small-scale fishery; fuel-use intensity;
nutrient density; nutritional LCA; uncertainty analyses
Follow the link to read the full paper published in Sustainability: https://doi.org/10.3390/su182010564