Life cycle assessment of the Maine and southwest Nova Scotia lobster industries

Commercial fisheries contribute to a number of non-localized environmental and resource depletion problems, such as climate change, through the provision and use of fossil fuels, vessels, gear, refrigeration, and bait, and during post-capture processes. Here, we investigate the degree to which different management regimes may affect two fisheries' contributions to a suite of non-localized environmental concerns. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to quantify the contributions made by the 2006 Maine and 2005-2006 southwest Nova Scotia fisheries for American lobster (Homarus americanus) to a suite of global environmental problems. The lobster fishery phase was the primary driver of resource and environmental impacts as characterized in the selected impact categories. Direct diesel use by the lobster boat was the primary source of impacts at the fishery phase, but the provision and use of bait was also a substantial contributor, particularly in the Maine fishery. Post-capture transportation of live lobster by air was a major contributor in the LFA 34 model. Lobstermen in both fisheries reported using approximately one liter of fuel per kilogram of lobster landings, but Maine lobstermen reported using three kilograms of bait per kilogram of lobster landings, while LFA 34 lobstermen reported using only one kilogram of bait per kilogram landings. The difference in bait use per unit landings resulted in the Maine lobster fishery having slightly higher global environmental impacts, when measured by the chosen impact categories, than the Nova Scotia fishery. However, the two fisheries' contributions to the selected environmental impact categories were broadly similar, despite their different management regimes, and an obvious influence of management was not identified. The findings for the lobster fisheries are placed into context with other food production systems.