Estimation of the carbon footprint of the Shetland fishery for Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

This study investigates the carbon footprint (CF) of the pelagic trawl Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) fishery of the Shetland Isles over the period 2012-2014. The study has found the Shetland Atlantic mackerel pelagic trawl fishery to have a comparably low CF at the point of landing in comparison both to other fisheries and terrestrial meat systems to a similar end point (0.41 t CO2e per tonne of fish landed). This was found to be in keeping with other research which shows small pelagic species and pelagic trawl fisheries in general to have a low CF value.

Fuel consumption was found to be the single biggest contributor to the overall CF and thus any steps to further reduce fuel consumption will aid in lowering the fleet CF. Refrigerant leakage was also found to play a large part in the current estimation of CF for the Shetland fleet. However, this was caused by a minority of vessels and will no longer factor after the change in regulations in 2015 requiring the out-phasing of R22 as a refrigeration system. This will result in those vessels affected converting to the carbon neutral ammonia system utilised by the others, thus removing refrigeration leakage and further reducing the fleet CF value.