Method for calculation of Swedish seafood consumption

Robust statistics on how much and which seafood is consumed in Sweden are important for calculations of intake of both desired and undesired substances through seafood, as well as for mapping and forecasting the environmental footprint generated by consumption. Based on three previous reviews summarizing production and trade statistics to estimate Swedish seafood consumption per species and production method (fishing/ aquaculture), a method has been developed for calculating seafood consumption. Previous reports have provided valuable insights, since the Swedish Board of Agriculture does no longer publish data on Swedish seafood consumption in the same way as for other foods. Focusing on the most recent review, which represents the current state of knowledge and the latest statistics, the purpose of this report is to describe in detail, step by step, the method used for calculating Swedish seafood consumption. The calculation is based on public statistics on the volume of imports, exports and production in aquaculture and fisheries, which when needed was complemented with information from other sources. The method description includes where data is found, how it is downloaded, processed, categorized and how the different datasets were later combined to provide an overall picture of Swedish seafood consumption. Finally, knowledge gaps and the need for supplementary data collection is described. The work on this report has revealed that there are still considerable deficiencies and data gaps in the public production and trade statistics. For instance, landings by foreign commercial fishing boats as well as landings of certain species in recreational fishing are not presented. Production data of certain species in aquaculture may also be lacking, due to confidentiality, and requires alternative strategies to be obtained. In addition, available statistics on herring and sprat are uncertain and difficult to interpret, which is why the calculation of these species requires special treatment. Due to its great importance in both production and consumption, the uncertainties surrounding these species represent an important source of error in the estimation of total consumption. Improvements in production and trade statistics of seafood are important for several reasons and it is important that a future method for public consumption statistics is harmonized with that used for other foods, to enable comparisons. Using alternative and varied ways to fill data gaps from year to year obstructs reliable calculations and comparisons – over time and with other product groups. To ensure a sustainable increase in seafood production and consumption, improved transparency through the whole value chain is of considerable importance – not the least to understand which seafood species that could increase in a sustainable way.

Understanding the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions in food production systems is becoming urgent. For wild capture fisheries, fuel use during the fishing phase generally dominates emissions and is highly variable between fisheries. Fuel use is also essential for the economy of the fisheries, but fuel-intensive fisheries can still be profitable due to fuel subsidies, in particular, if the target species is of high value. Developing an innovative bottom-up approach based on detailed catch and spatial fishing effort data, in the absence of direct fuel data, we analysed the fuel use intensity (fuel use per kg landed) and economic efficiency (landing value per litre fuel used) of Danish capture fisheries for the period 2005-2019. An overall decline in fishing effort did not significantly affect the overall fuel use intensity and efficiency, which was stable for most of the fleet segments and marine species. Robust differences in fuel use intensity among individual fisheries, reflected differential spatial accessibility and vulnerability of target species to fishing. In addition, different fishing techniques targeting the same set of species showed differences in fuel use per unit landed. Danish seining and gillnets had a lower fuel use intensity and higher economic efficiency than demersal trawling; and purse seining than pelagic trawling. The variability between stocks and fleets also indicates that there is generally potential for improvement in overall efficiency from improved stock status. Short-term management actions to promote the best available fuel-efficient fishing techniques combined with additional long-term actions to secure the recovery of stocks have the potential to reduce fishery greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable fisheries and normative environmental management are crucial to developing incentives towards reducing fuel use whenever the fishing sector industry and science work jointly at implementing solutions, as incentives for the industry to reduce fuel use are limited as long as the fishing activity is profitable. Copyright © 2022 Bastardie, Hornborg, Ziegler, Gislason and Eigaard.

Seafood is seen as promising for more sustainable diets. The increasing production in land-based closed Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RASs) has overcome many local environmental challenges with traditional open net-pen systems such as eutrophication. The energy needed to maintain suitable water quality, with associated emissions, has however been seen as challenging from a global perspective. This study uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance and improvement potentials of a commercial RAS farm of tilapia and Clarias in Sweden. The environmental impact categories and indicators considered were freshwater eutrophication, climate change, energy demand, land use, and dependency on animal-source feed inputs per kg of fillet. We found that feed production contributed most to all environmental impacts (between 67 and 98%) except for energy demand for tilapia, contradicting previous findings that farm-level energy use is a driver of environmental pressures. The main improvement potentials include improved by-product utilization and use of a larger proportion of plant-based feed ingredients. Together with further smaller improvement potential identified, this suggests that RASs may play a more important role in a future, environmentally sustainable food system.

Seafood has an important role to play to achieve a sustainable food system that provides healthy food to a growing world population. Future seafood production will be increasingly reliant on aquaculture where feed innovation is essential to reduce environmental impacts and minimize feed and food competition. This study aimed to investigate whether a novel single cell protein feed ingredient based on Paecilomyces variotii grown on a side stream from the forest industry could improve environmental sustainability of farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by replacing the soy protein concentrate used today. A Life Cycle Assessment including commonly addressed impacts but also the rarely assessed biodiversity impacts was performed. Furthermore, feeding trials were included for potential effects on fish growth, i.e., an assessment of the environmental impacts for the functional unit ‘kg feed required to produce 1 kg live-weight rainbow trout’. Results showed that the best experimental diet containing P. variotii performed 16–73 % better than the control diet containing soy protein concentrate in all impact categories except for energy demand (21 % higher impact). The largest environmental benefits from replacing soy protein with P. variotii in rainbow trout diets was a 73 % reduction of impact on biodiversity and halved greenhouse gas emissions. The findings have high relevance for the aquaculture industry as the production scale and feed composition was comparable to commercial operations and because the effect on fish growth from inclusion of the novel ingredient in a complete diet was evaluated. The results on biodiversity loss from land use change and exploitation through fishing suggest that fishery can dominate impacts and exclusion thereof can greatly underestimate biodiversity impact. Finally, a novel feed ingredient grown on side streams from the forest industry has potential to add to food security through decreasing the dependence on increasingly scarce agricultural land resources. 

Purpose: Seafood life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have adopted the primary production required (PPR) indicator to account for the impact of these production systems (e.g., capture fisheries or aquaculture) on the ecosystems they harvest wild inputs from. However, there exists a large diversity in the application of methods to calculate PPR, and current practice often does not consider species- and ecosystem-specific factors. Here, we critically examine current practice and propose a refined method for applying the PPR metric in seafood LCAs. Methods: We surveyed seafood LCAs that quantify PPR, or its derivatives, to examine the diversity of practice. We then defined and applied a refined method to a case study of the average Norwegian salmon feed in 2012. This refined method incorporates species-specific fishmeal and oil yields, source ecosystem-specific transfer efficiencies and expresses results as a percentage of total ecosystem production that PPR represents. Results were compared to those using previously applied methods based on the literature review, and the impact of uncertainty and natural variability of key input parameters was also assessed using Monte Carlo simulation. Results and discussion: From the literature review, most studies do not incorporate species-specific fishmeal and oil yields or ecosystem-specific transfer efficiencies when calculating PPR. Our proposed method, which incorporated source species- and ecosystem-specific values for these parameters, provides far greater resolution of PPR than when employing global average values. When alternative methods to calculate PPR were applied to marine inputs to Norwegian salmon feeds, resulting PPR values were similar for some sources of fishmeal and oil. For other species, such as Atlantic herring from ecosystems with low transfer efficiencies, there was a large divergence in resulting PPR values. For combined inputs to Norwegian salmon feeds in 2012, the refined method resulted in a total PPR value that is three times higher than would result using the currently standard method signaling that previous LCA research may have substantially underestimated the marine biotic impacts of fishery products. Conclusions: While there exists a great diversity of practice in the application of the PPR indicator in seafood LCA, the refined method should be adopted for future LCA studies to be more specific to the context of the study.

Sudden losses to food production (that is, shocks) and their consequences across land and sea pose cumulative threats to global sustainability. We conducted an integrated assessment of global production data from crop, livestock, aquaculture and fisheries sectors over 53 years to understand how shocks occurring in one food sector can create diverse and linked challenges among others. We show that some regions are shock hotspots, exposed frequently to shocks across multiple sectors. Critically, shock frequency has increased through time on land and sea at a global scale. Geopolitical and extreme-weather events were the main shock drivers identified, but with considerable differences across sectors. We illustrate how social and ecological drivers, influenced by the dynamics of the food system, can spill over multiple food sectors and create synchronous challenges or trade-offs among terrestrial and aquatic systems. In a more shock-prone and interconnected world, bold food policy and social protection mechanisms that help people anticipate, cope with and recover from losses will be central to sustainability. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Demonstration of fishery sustainability has expanded from a relatively narrow biological focus to one that includesa wide range of issues in response to environmental legislation, social factors, and demands from marketsand consumers. The Healthcheck for Australian Fisheries Sustainability (Healthcheck) is a new initiative designedto be comprehensive with regard to ecological, economic, social and governance aspects, presentingavailable information about a fishery for easy access and use. Here we report on the framework developmentprocess, including engagement with fishery managers, environmental non-government organisations, andfishery participants. All participants emphasized the need for a broad sustainability assessment with timelyreporting, easy availability, and wider coverage of seafood sustainability information than is currently accessible,and expressed the importance of trustworthy and transparent information. Differences were found whencomparing sustainability issues generally reported and issues of main concern to stakeholders. Subsequent refinementof the Healthcheck extended coverage into issues that are on the horizon for fishery reporting, but maysoon be of interest to a wide range of stakeholders.

Seafood offers opportunities for more sustainable diets through having a generally high nutritional value at lower environmental pressures relative to other animal protein. Opportunities for, and challenges of, seafood production and consumption are however context dependent. Here, a case study of Swedish fisheries for Atlantic herring Clupea harengus in the Baltic Sea is added to the scientific discourse. Motivated from a heated public debate in Sweden, the purpose is to provide a first sustainability assessment of current value chains: direct consumption versus fish meal and oil production. The case study highlights the importance of taking a value chain perspective for seafood from capture fisheries – i.e., the prerequisites, constraints and opportunities for different actors – and pay attention to misaligned economic incentives that may conflict sustainable use. Although lower greenhouse gas emissions, higher nutritional value, more affordable seafood for consumers and higher economic value for fishermen may be achieved by direct consumption of herring, several challenges exist. These include above all an urgent need to safeguard sustainable and equitable fisheries exploitation; current management is increasingly eroding opportunities for value chains producing herring for food. It is also vital with realistic expectations; redirecting more herring to direct consumption also requires strategies for how potential health risks can be reduced and consumer interest could increase. Overall, the study illustrates net-effects on marine resource utilization from interplay between actors along the value chain in various ways – with implications and insights of importance for a long-term sustainable Blue Economy. 

Sustainability assessments of seafood from capture fisheries – key issues for a more needs-based tool

Defining what may be seen as sustainable seafood is complex – there is a multitude of aspects and production systems to consider. As a response to this challenge, several market-based assessments exist today with the aim to simplify and support promotion of sustainable seafood. In Sweden, the most important ones are the WWF Sustainable Seafood Guide, the certification Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Swedish label for organic food (KRAV). Due to challenges identified with these existing assessments, companies may also have their internal assessments. One example is the company Orkla who has done their own seafood sustainability assessment since 2009. To secure a long-term sustainable seafood sector in Sweden, there is a need for improved understanding of the different tools, and if and how a more needs-based tool could be developed for the industry in Sweden. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the different tools, gather input from actors along the value chain on their needs and provide a basis for discussion on alternative paths ahead. Overall, the report finds both similarities and differences between the tools. Mixed messages are conveyed for the same products when assessed by the different tools, highlighting current challenges for value chain actors, and examples are provided where and how differences may arise. To this end, current situation cause confusion for companies who want to set their sustainability targets related to sustainable seafood. Cost-effectiveness could also be improved by increased collaboration, but it is unclear how this best may be achieved.

Does Swedish consumption of farmed salmon drive increase in industrial fisheries in the Baltic Sea?

Swedish fishing in the Baltic Sea with large vessels to produce fish meal and oil, and the deteriorating conditions for small-scale fishing and herring stocks, has in recent years been heavily debated in media. A link between current large-scale fishing and Swedish consumption of Norwegian salmon is often made, i.e., that Norwegian salmon farming is a driver behind the recent development. The Swedish Fishing Industry Association has therefore commissioned this report with the aim to improve current knowledge. The overarching questions are whether i) there is a dependency, and ii) if Norwegian salmon farming can be considered a driver for Swedish large-scale fishing of herring in the Baltic Sea. It is found that the development from the 1950s needs to be taken into account to fully understand today's situation. The current Swedish fishing fleet in the Baltic Sea is in line with national fisheries’ objectives to make pelagic fishing more efficient, and the development of stocks is in turn governed by the EU Common Fisheries Policy – both independent to both Swedish consumption and Norwegian salmon farming. Several factors affect destination of landings, where an important aspect is quality of the catch. Current fishing pattern, with fewer and larger boats, have resulted in considerably larger landing volumes per vessel – compromising opportunities for processing for direct consumption. The exact link between Swedish fisheries and Norwegian salmon farming is however complicated. The different traceability systems for fish caught for feed versus direct consumption are not integrated, although detailed information "one step forward, one step back" is available from individual actors. This challenge an effective tracing of a certain fish volume caught for fish meal and oil production to the final use. Overall, available data find that the total share of herring (from all waters) in one kilo Norwegian salmon feed is small (3.77%), and a very small fraction is based on fisheries directly destined for fish meal and oil production (0.8%) – the largest share is based on trimmings from processing for direct consumption. However, most of the Swedish landings of herring from the Baltic Sea is directly destined for fishmeal and oil production in Denmark. The largest share of the total production in Denmark goes to aquaculture, mainly to Norway. Conclusions are that i) Norwegian salmon farming does not appear to use herring from the Baltic Sea to a large extent, although a large share of the fish meal and oil production from the Baltic Sea are destined to aquaculture, and ii) it is the fisheries management (EU and Swedish) that has shaped the fishing that exists today by creating the basic conditions. The report concludes with recommendations for follow-up measures to reduce conflict between fishing for feed and direct consumption, and to better ensure full traceability even for fish intended for feed production.

Interest in finding sustainable diets is increasing where more attention has been paid to the role of seafoods in recent years. Danish fisheries’ producer organisations are interested in better understanding the carbon footprint and nutritional content of different species caught in Danish fisheries and how they compare to other types of animal-source food. The aim of this report is to place a selection of seafood products from Danish capture fisheries in a sustainable nutrition context. This is done by quantifying their greenhouse gas emissions, inferred from fishing effort, as well as nutritional content and relate findings to previous estimates of other common animal-source foods (farmed salmon, chicken, pork and beef). Furthermore, attempts to identify important drivers and improvement potentials are made. It is found that in terms of nutritional value, fatty fish (herring and farmed salmon) have a higher combined nutrient density than other foods included. Overall, herring and plaice caught in Danish fisheries in the Skagerrak, Kattegat and western Baltic are animal-source foods with lower greenhouse gas emissions than pork, beef, chicken, and farmed salmon. The same results are found for cod compared to pork and beef. Variability within and between gears, fishing areas and over time is however found, indicating improvement potentials. In the Skagerrak and Kattegat, shifting from demersal trawling to Danish seine/other gear types would lower fisheries greenhouse gas emissions considerably, while this potential is smaller in the western Baltic Sea. This partly reflects different targeting patterns, where cod is the main target species in the western Baltic Sea, while it is more a by-catch in crustacean fisheries in the other fishing areas. When results are compared with other fisheries targeting the same species, Danish plaice fisheries are associated with considerably lower fuel use relative to other fisheries for plaice. Results for Danish herring and cod vary depending on fishery, with some fisheries being less efficient than found elsewhere. The outcome for Danish fisheries is in part reflecting the different gears used but could also indicate different stock status, in particular for cod, and different methodological approaches. More detailed analysis, with collection of actual fuel use data for these fisheries instead of using modelled data, would be of interest to allow for further understanding of drivers as well as validation of results.

Mean trophic level (MTL) of landings and primary production required (PPR) by fisheries are increasingly used in the assessment of sustainability in fisheries. However, in their present form, MTL and PPR are prone to misinterpretation. We show that it is important to account for actual catch data, define an appropriate historical and spatial domain, and carefully consider the effects of fisheries management, based on results from a case study of Swedish fisheries during the past century.

Seafood has gained increasing attention in discussions on sustainable and healthy diets. This is based on a generally high nutrient content in combination with a comparatively low environmental impact. But there are major differences between different seafoods. Furthermore, information available on Swedish seafood consumption is lacking or associated with uncertainties. Baselines on current consumption are needed to guide consumers and other seafood value chain actors in Sweden. Here Swedish seafood consumption in 2019 is presented, the third RISE report on the topic since 2017. Figures are based on available official statistics on production, import and export supplemented with collected data. The statistics have also been processed, such as grouped by species and recalculated to live weight and edible part by using general conversion factors. Both the previous two RISE reports identified data gaps. This report has therefore strived to reduce the uncertainties and use more data sources as they have been discovered. The methods and data thus differ somewhat between the reports, which implies that the results are not fully comparable. There are also still data gaps. Results show that Swedish consumption of seafood still does not reach the dietary advice by the National Food Agency in Sweden of 2-3 times per week. Furthermore, the overall trend is stable or possibly declining. In 2019, it is estimated that 123 777 tonnes of seafood were available for Swedish consumption in edible form (fillets, peeled and prepared products). This corresponds to an average of 12 kg per person per year (or 230 grams per week, 96 portions per capita). Converted to live weight, this is the equivalent of approximately 276 367 tonnes (or 27 kg per capita). The ten most common species or species groups contributed with over 75 % of the total volume, dominated by salmon, cod, herring and shrimps. The theoretical degree of self-sufficiency is low, 74 % of the volume was imported. Swedish production consists mainly of seafood from commercial fisheries (74 %), of which 3 % came from inland fisheries. Aquaculture contributed 16 % and the remaining from kept catches in recreational fishing. To this end, value chain perspectives – from sea to table – are essential for the sustainable development of the seafood sector. There are opportunities to diversify consumption towards more low impact and nutritious seafoods and increase self-sufficiency, but these shifts need concerted efforts. Consumer studies has shown that many Swedish consumer plan to increase their seafood consumption, and acceptance of more species is increasing. This interest, in combination with the current investments made in research in boosting seafood in Sweden, may offer a momentum to develop more sustainable seafood habits in Sweden.

Algae have gained increasing attention as promising food from both an environmental and nutritional perspective. However, current understanding is still limited. This report summarizes the status of knowledge for this emerging sector, focusing on micro- and macroalgae species most relevant for Europe (particularly Sweden). Environmental impacts, with focus on climate, are evaluated through literature reviews and analysis of existing life cycle assessments (LCAs), and nutritional potential in the form of data compilation and calculation of nutrient density scores. Overall, findings reveal that current data is incomplete and of poor representativeness. Most LCAs are not performed on commercial production, but at pilot or experimental scale, why often only indicative drivers for greenhouse gas emissions may be identified. For microalgae, there is a wide diversity of production systems in different conditions across the globe. Based on the data at hand, energy use is a key hotspot across most studies for this production, driven by the requirements of different types of systems and species, and to location. For macroalgae production, despite poor representativeness of especially green and red macroalgae, key aspects for minimizing greenhouse gas emissions are associated with energy consumption and use of materials for farming such as ropes. No LCA exists on wild harvested macroalgae, representing the largest production volume in Europe (>95%); large-scale wild harvest may also be associated with risks to ecosystems unless suitable management is enforced. Significant data gaps also exist in food composition databases regarding nutrient and heavy metal content in algae (e.g., vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids). When available, nutrient content was found to be highly variable within and across species, but overall, the evaluation of nutritional quality indicated that algae may be a considerable source of minerals and vitamin B12. The contribution of fiber and protein is generally minimal in a 5 g dry weight portion of macroalgae; microalgae may have higher protein content, and also fat. However, excessive amounts of iodine and several heavy metals may be represented even in very small amounts of unprocessed macroalgae. In summary, the suggested potential of farmed algae as a sustainable food resource is overall strengthened by its generally low carbon footprint during production compared to other food raw materials. However, more input data are needed to fill data gaps regarding both environmental impacts and nutrient quality, and effects from different processing, as well as improved understanding of nutrient and contaminant bioavailability. Pending further research, careful considerations of risks and benefits associated with algae production and consumption should be applied.

The role of aquatic resources to food security is both promising and constrained since the global seafood consumption is increasing while marine fisheries approach the limit of what it can produce. In Sweden, the seafood consumption per capita is higher than the European and world average but the current dietary advice is to increase consumption. Freshwater fisheries have in general been paid less attention in food security discussions. Carp fishes (Cyprinidae) in Sweden have lost their historical value and are currently, both understudied and underutilized. Here we use a combined environmental assessment approach to examine the environmental sustainability of current and potential cyprinid fisheries. We found that current commercial fisheries for Swedish cyprinids in lakes have an average carbon footprint of 0.77 kg CO2e per kg of edible product, substantially smaller than most of the popular marine and terrestrial protein sources consumed in Sweden today. This could be even lower if cyprinid resources were better utilized than currently. The cyprinids however exhibited different vulnerability to fishing pressure and are today associated with data deficiencies. Hence, it is currently uncertain how much food for human consumption they can contribute to. Improved consumer interest and management attention is needed, but to the Swedish diet, cyprinids offer a promising opportunity for future more sustainable and nutritious food systems.

Seafood is a diverse food commodity, comprising of over 2 500 species from capture fisheries and over 600 species from farming, with vast differences between production methods. Dietary advice often includes recommendations to increase consumption of seafood, based on health benefits and that seafood may be produced with less environmental impacts and resources use compared to many other animal-based foods. However, at the same time, there are frequent media alarms related to potential health risks (some species have diet restrictions) and destructive production practices from both fisheries and aquaculture. As a result, there is often confusion on which seafood to eat or not to eat.The aim of this report is primarily to collate available information on health risks and benefits of Swedish seafood consumption, and to combine this with environmental aspects (focus on carbon footprint).Around 40 seafood products consumed in Sweden were included in the analysis. Potential health risks could only be included qualitatively, since the collected data is risk-based and thus not all products are sampled. It was found that the nutritional content and carbon footprint vastly differ between species. There were also several data gaps identified, such as the need for more detailed data on performance from different production systems. The combined assessment of nutritional value and carbon footprint categorised some species as win-win in terms of nutritional content and environmental pressures (such as small pelagic fish), while others could be more categorised as having less nutritional value and with high environmental costs (such as Northern prawn) respectively.The report provides decision support for further data collection needed to enable combined assessment of nutritional risks, benefits and environmental sustainability of seafood products. Results may be used to discuss suitable level of details of dietary advice.

Sustainability of fisheries extends beyond environmental aspects. Broad information is today sought for decision-making and by many stakeholders. Here, a framework recently developed to comprehensively report on sustainability issues relevant to fisheries, the Australian Fisheries Healthcheck, was used to compare five crustacean trawl fisheries from Australia and Europe. Indicators covered 51 different aspects of sustainability in 24 sub-categories related to ecological, economic, social and ethical, governance, and external (e.g. climate, contaminants) dimensions. We found that data availability did not vary greatly between fisheries, but the indicator outcomes did. Furthermore, while environmental sustainability has received most attention in assessments to date, the associated indicators had the least publicly available data. Another finding was that eco-certification and high performance on several governance indicators did not necessarily equate to sustainability. For future international comparisons, challenges include identifying comparable and cost-effective metrics for indicators derived from different data collection strategies. Commencing holistic reporting on broader sustainability is important since the data provided (i) are sought by stakeholders; (ii) enable improved availability of empirical data for research on the effectiveness of different governance modes; (iii) can illustrate trade-offs between different dimensions of sustainability, and (iv) build trust in the fishery system as producers of sustainable food. VC International Council for the Exploration of the Sea 2020. 

Progress towards ecosystem-based fisheries management calls for useful tools to prioritize actions. To select suitable methods for local circumstances, evaluating approaches used in other jurisdictions can be a cost-effective first step. We tested Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) to assess the potential vulnerability of the marine fish community in the Skagerrak-Kattegat (Eastern North Sea) to possible interactions with all Swedish fisheries operating in the area. This analysis combines attributes for a species productivity with attributes related to the susceptibility to capture to quantify a single score for vulnerability: high, medium, or low risk. Results indicate that demersal trawl and gillnet fisheries were associated with the highest risk levels if interaction occurs, i.e. having the highest prevalence of species with potentially high vulnerability to the fisheries. Mixed results were seen when comparing the assessment results with available data. The main benefit of utilizing PSA in the area is the comprehensiveness of the assessment, including data-deficient fisheries and species. Drawbacks include potential overestimation of actual risks. Overall, together with available data, PSA in the studied area provides a comprehensive map of potential risks for further actions and may progress a science-based, precautionary management of the area.

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.

The European Common Fisheries Policy has in its 2013 reform increased in complexity, such as a call for coherence with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and a landing obligation, posing new requirements and challenges to managers, scientists and the fishing industry. Therefore, re-evaluations of current practice are important as a basis for management actions. The Swedish fishery for Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) in the Kattegat–Skagerrak area provides an interesting case study of relevance to emerging policies. Sprung from an unbalance in available fish- and Nephrops quotas and an ambition to protect coastal areas, the current fishery has been directed towards three separate fisheries (mixed trawling, directed trawling using a sorting grid and creeling). Studying direct and indirect effects from alternative Swedish quota allocations among gear types is therefore interesting. Accordingly, a screening study was conducted, taking into consideration area-gear interactions in catch rates, to compare the three different fisheries regarding quantified pressures on the target species, the by-catch species, and on the seafloor, as well as to qualitatively discuss social and economic dimensions. In the next step, alternative quota allocations were studied. In Swedish fisheries, we show that creeling offers a substantial reduction of fishing mortality of both undersized Nephrops and fish and a reduced seafloor pressure per landed kilo of Nephrops. Given that the fishing areas in many cases may be interchangeable between gears, allocating a larger quota share to creels in the Swedish fishery would therefore contribute to the integration of fisheries- and environmental management as called for in the new policies.

Fisheries for Northern shrimp

Pandalus borealis in the Skagerrak have been given much media attention in recent years, initiated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Sweden listing the product as "avoid" in their consumer guide in 2014. Even with the current eco-certification by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), there is still questions concerning the development in the fishery since 2014. The WWF has therefore commissioned a report to follow up what has happened in the fishery.

The overall aim of the study is therefore to collate information on sustainability aspects of current shrimp fisheries in the Skagerrak (Norwegian, Danish and Swedish fisheries) to provide a transparent report on current fisheries. Since sustainability comprise of many dimensions, the shrimp fisheries are e.g. in Sweden seen as an iconic cultural activity for coastal communities, broader evaluations are needed than those that currently are done. The point of departure is therefore to utilize the approach of the Australian Fisheries Healthcheck

– a project aiming to provide transparent reporting of a broad range of indicators (sorted into environmental, social & cultural, economic, governance and external influences categories). The intention of Healthcheck is to support existing seafood guides, fishery reports and managers, and provide information to interested citizens.

It was found that much data is already collected on an annual basis that may be used for the Healthcheck indicators, but the data was often not available and analysed on a fishery basis. The shrimp fishery, and many other European fisheries, is also different to most Australian fisheries since it is multijurisdictional, and thus associated to different management objectives between countries

– this is markedly reflected by differences in the three countries’ fleets and fishing patterns, data collection and officially available documentation concerning the shrimp fishery. Few across-countries, standardized indicators could therefore today be reported on for the whole fishery, thus requiring further effort. Several indicators may also require further investigation in terms what may be appropriate metrics for the indicator that is aligned with European circumstances. The study can therefore be seen as a pilot collating which data is currently available to report on broader sustainability aspects of relevance to European fisheries, whereas a future, more detailed analysis of the fishery is needed to investigate the data more in detail.

Concerning the sustainability of the Skagerrak shrimp fishery, the analysis indicates that the overall development shows some positive signals in recent years, such as improved selectivity and more area restrictions to protect sensitive habitats. However, the arguable most basic components of a sustainable fishery

– exploitation level and stock status – exhibit some alarming signals. Furthermore, with landing per unit effort declining in recent years, pressure in the form of e.g. fuel use and habitat impact per kg landed shrimp may be negatively affected, requiring further attention.

Fisheries management needs to broaden its perspective to achieve sustainable resource use. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an ISO standardized method to evaluate the environmental impacts of products using a broad and systematic approach. In this study, the outcome of a management regime promoting species-selective trawling in Swedish Nephrops trawl fisheries was studied using LCA methodology by quantifying the impacts per kilogram of landing using two different fishing methods. Demersal trawling has previously been found to be both energy intensive and destructive in terms of seafloor impact and discards. It is demonstrated that species-selective trawling fulfils management objectives, although with tradeoffs in terms of fuel consumption and associated GHG emissions. To prioritize between impacts, one must be aware of and quantify these potential tradeoffs. LCA could be an important tool for defining sustainable seafood production as it can visualize a broad range of impacts and facilitate integrated, transparent decision making in the seafood industry. It is also concluded that, with current LCA methodology, use of total discarded mass could increasingly be distinguished from potential impact by applying two new concepts: primary production requirements and threatened species affected. 

Global fisheries have for long been scrutinized in terms of ecosystem effects but only more recently for their greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are dominated by fuel use on fishing vessels and the levels are often neglected side effects of resource overexploitation. Using a simple production model, Pella-Tomlinson, we illustrate how fuel efficiency (fuel use per unit of catch) varies with the level of exploitation and biomass depletion. For this model, fuel use per unit catch rises hyperbolically with fishing effort—it is relatively flat at low levels of effort but rises steeply as effort increases and biomass and catch decline. In light of these findings, the general fuel efficiency relationship with common fishery reference points on stock status is discussed, as well as other means of reducing fuel use and thus greenhouse gas emissions. We conclude that much may be gained by considering fuel efficiency in setting reference points for target stock biomass in fisheries and encourage further investigations. 

This study quantifies a set of sustainability indicators (environmental, economic, social and institutional) for the Baltic cod fisheries (western and eastern stock) and explores the effects of different alternative management options in short term (for both stocks) and longer term (for the eastern stock). Data collected are biased towards the Swedish fishing industry, but most findings are relevant for all countries exploiting the stocks.

Based on results in this study, it is evident that management actions are needed at many levels to improve the current situation. Some of the observed problems with the cod fisheries today are due to external influences, outside of fisheries management remit (such as seal conflicts, oxygen-depleted areas). Nevertheless, this should not hinder management actions on what may be better understood and managed for in a fisheries context. For the eastern stock, the most pertinent issue is mitigation of density-dependence or feeding shortages. It is urgent with further investigations on what is the most important driver such as consider risks with current selectivity and effort regime, as well as act to improve herring and sprat availability where cod is abundant. Interestingly, it is found that increased seal predation may have a mitigating effect on density-dependence of cod in a trawl-based selectivity regime (i.e. result in higher landings and improved stock structure compared to lower predation pressure); for passive gears, it is the opposite. For the western stock, decreasing fishing effort and allowing the stock to rebuild is the most urgent action.

To this end, the present governance system may improve in many ways, and it is recommended to do a thorough analysis of what may be done to improve effectiveness of accomplishing current aspirational policy objectives.

Overexploitation of fish stocks causes concern not only to fisheries managers and conservation biologists, but also engages seafood consumers; more integrated product perspectives would be useful. This could be provided by life cycle assessment (LCA); however, further complements of present LCA methodology are needed to assess seafood production, one being by-catch impacts. We studied the scientific rationale behind using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for assessment of impacts relating to fish species' vulnerability. For this purpose, the current Red List status of marine fish in Sweden was compared to the advice given in fisheries as well as key life history traits known to indicate sensitivity to high fishing pressure. Further, we quantified the amount of threatened fish (vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered) that was discarded in demersal trawl fisheries on the Swedish west coast. The results showed that not only did the national Red List of marine fish have a high consistency with advice given in fisheries and indices of vulnerability, the different fishing practices studied were also found to have vastly different amounts of threatened fish discarded per kilo landing. The suggested approach is therefore promising as a carrier of aggregated information on the extent to which seafood production interferes with conservation priorities, in particular for species lacking adequate stock assessment. To enable extensive product comparisons, it is important to increase coverage of fish species by the global IUCN Red List, and to reconsider the appropriate assessment unit (species or stocks) in order to avoid false alarms.

Coastal seas have gone through dramatic transformations over the past millennia. Many changes have been driven by human activities. Current coastal monitoring and reference conditions used in policy are however in the scale of decades. This short perspective affects restoration goals and current understanding of the full potential of more sustainable use. This report summarizes the outcome of a pilot study on if, and how, longer historical perspectives of the seas may be of use in a Swedish coastal management context. Through contacts with experts in a range of scientific disciplines, literature searches and workshops, the report aims at providing a point of departure for further in-depth investigations. The report is not a comprehensive review, but rather provides examples of records available, research performed and suggests potential research themes for the future. It is found that there are ample opportunities to use a wide range of historical records from Swedish coasts for various management applications. There are also coastal policy applications that already are informed by historical perspectives, both international and Swedish, that may merit from further investigations. Based on the general interest by marine management practitioners in what historical applications may bring to contemporary management, international collaboration may provide leverage for action through exchange of experiences and comparisons of historical records.

De nya kostråd som Livsmedelsverket publicerade i april 2015 tog även hänsyn till miljöaspekter, förutom närings- och hälsoaspekter. Den här rapporten sammanställer skillnaderna i miljöpåverkan mellan ekologiskt och konventionellt producerade livsmedel och är ett kunskapsunderlag som Livsmedelsverket kan använda för att belysa frågan om det finns några livsmedelsgrupper där ekologiskt alternativt konventionellt bör lyftas fram. Arbetet har fokuserat på ett antal större livsmedelsgrupper och prioriterat studier som har använt livscykelanalys, LCA. Den senare är en miljösystemanalysmetod som kartlägger den potentiella miljöpåverkan en produkt ger upphov till under sin livscykel, från ”vaggan till graven” (eller en väl avgränsad del av livscykeln, till exempel primärproduktionen).

The previous decade has witnessed a flourishing of studies on how fisheries and marine food webs interact, and how trophicmodels and indicators can be used for assessment and management purposes. Acknowledging the importance of complex interactions among species, fishermen and the environment has led to a shift from single species to an ecosystem-wide approach in the science supporting fisheries management (e.g. Johannesburg Declaration, Magnuson-Stevens Act). Moreover, fisheries managers today acknowledge that fishing activities are linked to a range of societal benefits and services, and their work is necessarily amulti-objective practice (i.e. ecosystem-based management). We argue that the knowledge accumulated thus far points to tropho-dynamic models and indicators as key tools for such multi-dimensional assessments. Nevertheless, trophodynamic approaches are still underutilised in fisheriesmanagement. More specifically,most management decisions continue to rely on single species and sector-specific models. Here we review examples of applications of trophodynamic indicators within fisheries assessments in wellstudied ecosystems, and discuss progressmade (as well as lack thereof) towards increased integration of these metrics into marine resource management. Having clarified how trophic indicators fit within current policy and management contexts, we propose ways forward to increase their use in view of futuremanagement challenges.

En sammanställning som vänder sig till dig som är nyfiken på biologisk mångfald och hur olika branscher och sektorer –privata som offentliga –på olika sätt kan arbeta mot våra gemensamma mål: en bevarad mångfald och ett hållbart nyttjande av naturens resurser

Ecological risk assessments are important as scientific support for the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management. Marine invertebrates are important to ecosystem structure and function and may be sensitive to fishing pressure. Some are also of increasing commercial value – but have hitherto not been paid much attention to in ecological risk assessments. Here, catches of invertebrates in Swedish west-coast fisheries with demersal trawls and creels are examined from an ecological risk assessment perspective. It is found that few non-commercial invertebrate species have been regularly recorded in onboard observer programs. Furthermore, for being a comparatively well-studied area, it is striking to find that out of the 93 species included, 56% could be classified as data deficient in terms of known attributes needed to perform basic ecological risk assessments. This implies that there is little or no available information on the basic life history traits important for estimating productivity. Additionally, onboard observer data for invertebrates are inadequate beyond targeted commercial species for robust statistical analysis on volumes generated over time and between fisheries. However, over 18% of the studied species are categorized as red-listed on the Swedish IUCN Red List. Combined with the few records available in observer data programs, the study illustrates the need to pay more attention to marine invertebrates in fisheries monitoring programs and research, especially bycaught and non-commercial invertebrate species.

Increasing pressure of sea lice, development of multi-resistance to chemotherapeutants, and alternative delousing strategies have been raising concerns about the environmental impacts of salmon farming. Ectoparasitic sea lice and its treatments represent a major bottleneck for the development of the Norwegian salmonid aquaculture. The environmental impacts of different treatments and their contribution to the salmon footprint remain unknown; these processes have been excluded from life cycle assessment (LCA) of farmed salmon. In this work, we apply LCA to quantify the impacts of three different value chains expressed per ton of cleaner fish farmed/fished, distributed, and used. The impacts of farmed lumpfish, farmed wrasse, and fished wrasse are then combined to calculate the footprint of the Norwegian biological lice treatment mix, expressed per ton of salmon produced. We found that wrasse fishing generates considerably lower impacts than farmed lumpfish and, a fortiori, farmed wrasse. The direct comparison of these value chains is compromised since LCA is unable to quantify ecosystem impacts and because cleaner fish delousing efficiencies remain unknown. Overall, the impacts of biological lice treatments have a low contribution to the salmon footprint, suggesting that using this treatment type could be a sound approach to treat salmon. However, such favorable results depend on three critical factors: (1) the efficiency of biological lice treatments needs to be confirmed and quantified; (2) ecosystem impacts should be accounted for; and (3) cleaner fish welfare issues must be addressed. This article met the requirements for a gold-gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges. © 2021 The Authors.

The ocean is increasingly used for industry, energy and recreation or protected for conservation, resulting in increasing spatial restrictions for fisheries. Simultaneously, producing seafood with a low climate footprint is becoming increasingly important. Despite this, the effects of spatial restrictions on the emissions of fishing fleets are poorly known. In the Northeast Atlantic, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit) meant that the UK regained autonomy in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This suddenly imposed a spatial restriction for several foreign fishing fleets targeting Northeast Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). Here, we use this natural experiment and open fisheries data to investigate how Brexit affected the performance and emissions of the Norwegian mackerel fishery. As the fleet was excluded from fishing grounds in the UK, the catch per fishing trip almost halved, while the number of trips per vessel doubled. As a result, fuel use intensity (FUI) more than doubled from ∼0.08 to ∼0.18 L fuel per kg mackerel. We estimate that this shift required an additional 23 million liters of fuel per year, causing additional fuel costs of ∼€18 million annually and emitting an additional ∼72,000 tonnes CO2 per year. The policy change undid ∼15 years of improved fuel efficiency in Norwegian pelagic fisheries. These findings provide rare empirical evidence on how spatial restrictions can undermine progress towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in fisheries, highlighting the need to monitor and account for emissions in fisheries management and consider these trade-offs in marine spatial management. 

Over the last decades, views on fisheries management have oscillated between alarm and trust in management progress. The predominant policy for remedying the world fishing crisis aims at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by adjusting gear selectivity and fishing effort. Here we report a case study on how striving for higher yields from the Eastern Baltic cod stock by increasing selectivity has become exceedingly detrimental for its productivity. Although there is a successive increase in numbers of undersized fish, growth potential is severely reduced, and fishing mortality in fishable size has increased. Once density-dependent growth is introduced, the process is self-enforcing as long as the recruitment remains stable. Our findings suggest that policies focusing on maximum yield while targeting greater sizes are risky and should instead prioritize catch rates over yield. Disregarding the underlying population structure may jeopardize stock productivity, with dire consequences for the fishing industry and ecosystem structure and function.

Understanding how combinations of fishing effort and selectivity affect productivity is central to fisheries research. We investigate the roles of fishing regulation in comparison with ecosystem status for Baltic Sea cod stock productivity, growth performance, and population stability. This case study is interesting because three cod populations with different exploitation patterns and stock status are located in three adjacent but partially, ecologically different areas. In assessing stock status, growth, and productivity, we use survey information and rather basic stock parameters without relying on age readings. Because there is an urgent interest of better understanding of the current development of the Eastern Baltic cod stock, we argue that our approach represents partly a novel way of interpreting monitoring information together with catch data in a simplified yet more informative way. Our study reports how the Eastern and Western Baltic cod have gone toward more truncated size structures between 1991 and 2016, in particular for the Eastern Baltic cod, whereas the Öresund cod show no trend. We suggest that selective fishing may disrupt fish population dynamic stability and that lower natural productivity might amplify the effects of selective fishing. In support of earlier findings on a density-dependent growth of Eastern Baltic cod, management is advised to acknowledge that sustainable exploitation levels for Eastern Baltic cod are much more limited than perceived in regular assessments. Of more general importance, our results emphasize the need to embrace a more realistic view on what ecosystems can produce regarding tractable fish biomass to facilitate a more ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Contrary to the declared recovery of the stock, the density-dependent growth of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua, Gadidae), probably related to increased gear selectivity, may have disrupted the size structure and substantially lowered the productivity of the stock. This naturally affects the profitability and future development of industry as well as ecosystem objectives in relation to policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. As a result, current management frameworks need to be reconsidered with a clear priority on setting objectives related to both socio-economic and ecosystem considerations. We explore various management options, using bioeconomic modelling to visualize potential trade-offs, and form an integrated decision support to inform managers regarding potential yield in biomass, revenue at both the fleet and individual levels, and environmental impact of fishing. We also investigate the consequences of preventing density-dependence by lowering selectivity, L_c, while optimizing for economic revenue and minimizing ecosystem impacts. Our findings indicate that new strategies need to be adopted by reducing L_c as well as fishing mortality, F, to restore individual growth and, hence, stock productivity. We also note that these more risk-averting strategies are positively linked to better profitability at both the individual and fleet levels as well as with enhanced ecosystem functioning and lower ecological stress.

The status of Eastern Baltic cod (EBC) Gadus morhua has remained poor despite low fishing mortality for over a decade, including a fishing ban since 2019. Although the decline in productivity can be explained by lower individual growth and survival rates, other aspects of life-history changes such as maturation patterns for EBC has so far not been sufficiently explored. According to current stock assessments, the median size at maturity (L50) has halved from 40 to around 20 cm in total length since the 1990s, while the overall size distribution has become increasingly truncated. It has previously been suggested that changes in L50 can be attributed to both fishing-induced evolution and phenotypic plasticity induced by growth rates. However, since L50 is currently occurring around 20 cm, the maturation process must have been initiated at much smaller sizes, that is, long before the fish could be caught in the dominant trawl fishery at around 35 cm. In this study, we aimed to further investigate what drivers may have led to reduced productivity in EBC by determining variations in size at sexual maturity in longer time series than has been done before (1930s to 1980s) and include prey productivity and quality. We found that L50 declined already in the 1930s and thereafter remained stable at around 40 cm up to the 1990s. On a centurial perspective, L50 has been positively correlated to growth potential (L95), length diversity, total stock biomass, total catch and yield per recruit, while Fulton’s condition factor was not related to L50. Our results suggest that the links between life-history parameters and external drivers are complex, but the present unprecedented early onset of maturity and hence decline in L50 since the 1990s signals a decline in growth potential, which also has hampered the productivity of EBC. 

As seaweed farming gains prominence in future blue economies, scientifically robust environmental evaluations are vital. Harmonizing life cycle assessment (LCA) studies provides nuanced insights, allowing generalizations and potentially more accurate results than individual studies. This study recalculates life cycle inventory (LCI) data to offer a comprehensive perspective on sugar kelp Saccharina latissima. The findings affirm and validate previous studies, emphasizing critical hotspots such as fuel use for boats at sea, impacts from the use of plastic ropes, buoys and metal components at sea, and electrical energy use in the hatchery. The overall environmental impacts of seaweed farming remain relatively low compared to other seafood and biomass sources. The study also highlights the importance of how fuel use is modelled for the outcome. While harmonization enhances certainty and facilitates robust comparisons, challenges arise from the lack of standardized methods for data collection and reporting, along with data gaps between studies. Addressing these limitations calls for standardized protocols and improved data sharing practices in the field. 

Seafood, depending on species and production method, has generally proven to be a good alternative to especially red meat from both an environmental and health perspective. However, Sweden is lagging behind in terms of both consumption and production of seafood – we do not reach the Swedish Food Agency’s dietary advice of having 2-3 portions per week, we eat only few species and import around 75% of the seafood consumed. In other words, investigating the development potential for the Swedish seafood sector is highly relevant, not the least in light of the national food strategy, where one aim is to increase domestic food production. It is also important to allow for sustainable development of the sector, which for instance means that catches cannot increase but should be used more effectively. The purpose of this report is to map the environmental footprint of current seafood production and consumption and model future scenarios for 2030 and 2045. Rather than trying to reflect the definite future, the idea is to show what it could look like, by combining ongoing and desirable trends regarding seafood. The report is primarily intended as a basis for discussions of what needs to be done to reach the desired future situation. We also investigate if we, through increased production, will be able to supply Sweden with seafood in accordance with the national recommendations, while reducing the climate impact. For species dominating Swedish production and consumption today, the most important production techniques and best available data of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of these were identified. Eutrophication potential and impact on fish stocks and bottom habitats from production were also weighed in and discussed semi-quantitatively/qualitatively. The future scenarios were then based on possible measures to increase production and/or reduce the climate impact: 1) increased aquaculture, 2) increased use of pelagic fish for human consumption, 3) increased use of side streamsfrom fish processing for human consumption, and 4) reduced climate impact and fuel consumptionin fishing partly through more sustainable management. To model future consumption and imports, it was assumed that distribution between main types of seafood, e.g. whitefish and salmonids, remain similar, but that demand for the most climate-efficient alternatives within each group will increase.Total climate and eutrophication potential increases with larger production and so does climateimpact per kg seafood produced with the chosen composition. Nutrient emissions, that may causeeutrophication, increase both in total and per kg due to increasing netpen production of fish. In terms of consumption, it appears that a growing domestic production combined with changed composition within and between seafood categories, together with the growing domestic production, makes it possible to reach the Swedish Food Agency’s recommendations – while reducing the GHG emissions of consumption. In addition, development of feed and technology may lead to further improvements that we cannot foresee today, although climate change also can affect production. Opportunities do exist to increase both production and consumption to levels in line with nationalneeds and recommendations, while reducing GHG emissions per kg seafood consumed. To make this happen, broad and goal-oriented collaborations between authorities and industry, sustainable sourcing strategies as well as a long-term sustainable management of Swedish fisheries is required. Increasing domestic production comes with multiple benefits, but despite shorter transports, Swedish seafood is not by definition more sustainable than imported – the most important aspectalso for Swedish seafood is how it is produced. What characterizes added values of Swedish seafood also need to be developed, and a holistic perspective is essential, i.e. considering what products new seafood is replacing.

Purpose: Capture fisheries are the only industrial-scale harvesting of a wild resource for food. Temporal variability in environmental performance of fisheries has only recently begun to be explored, but only between years, not within a year. Our aim was to better understand the causes of temporal variability within and between years and to identify improvement options through management at a company level and in fisheries management. Methods: We analyzed the variability in broad environmental impacts of a demersal freeze trawler targeting cod, haddock, saithe, and shrimp, mainly in the Norwegian Sea and in the Barents Sea. The analysis was based on daily data for fishing activities between 2011 and 2014 and the functional unit was a kilo of landing from one fishing trip. We used biological indicators in a novel hierarchic approach, depending on data availability, to quantify biotic impacts. Landings were categorized as target (having defined target reference points) or bycatch species (classified as threatened or as data-limited). Indicators for target and bycatch impacts were quantified for each fishing trip, as was the seafloor area swept. Results and discussion: No significant difference in fuel use was found between years, but variability was considerable within a year, i.e., between fishing trips. Trips targeting shrimp were more fuel intensive than those targeting fish, due to a lower catch rate. Steaming to and from port was less important for fuel efficiency than steaming between fishing locations. A tradeoff was identified between biotic and abiotic impacts. Landings classified as main target species generally followed the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) framework, and proportions of threatened species were low, while proportions of data-limited bycatch were larger. This improved considerably when reference points were defined for saithe in 2014. Conclusions: The variability between fishing trips shows that there is room for improvement through management. Fuel use per landing was strongly influenced by target species, fishing pattern, and fisheries management. Increased awareness about the importance of onboard decision-making can lead to improved performance. This approach could serve to document performance over time helping fishing companies to better understand the effect of their daily and more long-term decision-making on the environmental performance of their products. Recommendations: Fishing companies should document their resource use and production on a detailed level. Fuel use should be monitored as part of the management system. Managing authorities should ensure that sufficient data is available to evaluate the sustainability of exploitation levels of all harvested species.

Capture fisheries is the only industrial-scale harvesting of a wild resource for food. Temporal variability in environmental performance of fisheries has only recently begun to be explored, but only between years, not within a year. Our aim was to better understand the causes of temporal variability within and between years and to identify improvement options through management at a company level and in fisheries management

Fisheries management determines how much of each stock can be landed when, where and how fishing is permitted. It has been identified to strongly influence the environmental performance of the fishing industry, including fuel use. As fuel data for fisheries is scarce, especially on a detailed level, the aim of this study was to develop an approach for utilizing fleet-wide fuel data to estimate the fuel use of individual fisheries and mapping how fuel efficiency in Swedish fisheries is influenced by management. Swedish demersal trawl fisheries were studied between 2002 and 2010. Results show that the overall fuel efficiency has improved and interesting patterns between different fisheries and vessel sizes emerged. The difference in fuel efficiency per kilo landing between large and small trawlers was generally small, unless catch capacity was lowered e.g. by selective grids. Stock rebuilding was shown to be highly important for fuel efficiency, as fuel use was inversely correlated to the biomass of eastern Baltic cod. However, rebuilding can also lead to trade-offs e.g. in the case of selective trawling, where protection of depleted stocks comes at the cost of higher fuel intensity per landing. Finally, tax exemption of fuel use in fisheries was shown to maintain inefficient fisheries. These results could be used to reduce overall environmental impacts of fishing further by incorporating fuel use as an additional aspect into the fisheries management system. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Fisheries management and sustainability assessment of fisheries more generally have recently expanded their scope from single-species stock assessment to ecosystem-based approaches, aiming to incorporate economic, social and local environmental impacts, while still excluding global-scale environmental impacts. In parallel, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has emerged as a widely used and recommended framework to assess environmental impacts of products, including global-scale impacts. For over a decade, LCA has been applied to seafood supply chains, leading to new insights into the environmental impact of seafood products.

We present insights from seafood LCA research with particular focus on evaluating fisheries management, which strongly influences the environmental impact of seafood products. Further, we suggest tangible ways in which LCA could be taken up in management. By identifying trade-offs, LCA can be a useful decision support tool and avoids problem shifting from one concern (or activity) to another. The integrated, product-based and quantitative perspective brought by LCA could complement existing tools. One example is to follow up fuel use of fishing, as the production and combustion of fuel used dominates overall results for various types of environmental impacts of seafood products, and is also often linked to biological impacts of fishing. Reducing the fuel use of fisheries is therefore effective to reduce overall impacts. Allocating fishing rights based on environmental performance could likewise facilitate the transition to low-impact fisheries. Taking these steps in an open dialogue between fishers, managers, industry, NGOs and consumers would enable more targeted progress towards sustainable fisheries.

The northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis L.) stock in the Skagerrak is shared by Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Although the fishery is regulated by an annual agreement between the EU and Norway, there are also national regulations as well as differences in fleet composition and shrimp markets. In early 2014, the World Wildlife Fund gave all Skagerrak shrimp a red light in their seafood consumer guide, which led to an extensive debate, especially in Sweden, about the sustainability of this fishery. The aim of this study was to quantify a set of indicators that together give a broad picture of the sustainability of the three fisheries to provide an objective basis for a discussion on needed measures. The different indicators concerned environmental, economic or social aspects of sustainability and were quantified per tonne of shrimp landed by each country in 2012. The Danish fishery was most efficient in terms of environmental and economic indicators, while the Swedish fishery provided most employment per tonne of shrimp landed. Fuel use in all fisheries was high, also when compared with other shrimp fisheries. Interesting patterns emerged, with smaller vessels being more fuel efficient than larger ones in Sweden and Norway, with the opposite trend in Denmark. The study also demonstrated major data gaps and differences between the countries in how data are collected and made available. Various improvement options in the areas data collection and publication, allocation of quotas and enforcement of regulations resulted. Product-oriented studies could be useful to follow-up performance of fisheries over time and to identify how to best utilize the Skagerrak shrimp stock. This could involve evaluating novel solutions in terms of technology and management, based on current and future scenarios aiming to maximize societal benefits generated from this limited resource, at minimized environmental impacts.

Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (1) nutrition and diet, environmental and economic outcomes together with social equity dimensions and (2) system interactions across country, EU and global scales. This paper addresses this gap in food systems research and science communication by providing an integrated analytical approach and new ways to communicate this complexity outside science. Based on a transdisciplinary science approach with continuous stakeholder input, the EU Horizon2020 project 'Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security' (SUSFANS) developed a five-step process: Creating a participatory space; designing a conceptual framework of the EU food system; developing food system performance metrics; designing a modelling toolbox and developing a visualization tool. The Sustainable Food and Nutrition-Visualizer, designed to communicate complex policy change-impacts and trade-off questions, enables an informed debate about trade-offs associated with options for change among food system actors as well as in the policy making arena. The discussion highlights points for further research related to indicator development, reach of assessment models, participatory processes and obstacles in science communication. © 2018 by the authors.