Sustainable Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture: Key Considerations for Assessing Environmental and Economic Performance Visa övriga samt affilieringar
2026 (Engelska) Ingår i: Reviews in Aquaculture, ISSN 1753-5123, E-ISSN 1753-5131, Vol. 18, nr 4Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), defined as the co-production of species at different trophic levels, is conceptually appealing. By utilising complementary functions of different species, it holds opportunities for lower environmental impact, higher productivity, and increased profitability in comparison with conventional monoculture. However, whether those advantages materialise in practice remains unclear. Here we review available life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost–benefit analysis (CBA) studies of IMTAs to further the current understanding of environmental and economic performance. We find that, overall, LCAs conclude that IMTAs investigated have not been able to deliver on environmental promises, while CBAs generally find that IMTAs have both better financial performance and lower environmental externalities than monoculture equivalents. The main reasons for these contrasting findings include the nature of the systems assessed so far—often theoretical or experimental set-ups with non-optimised designs—combined with methodological choices in assessments. The findings of the review thus suggest that it is still unclear to what extent IMTA can deliver on its promises in practice, and that IMTA is no panacea for aquaculture but requires careful design to be effective for its intended use. Integrating robust LCAs and CBAs early in the development phase can help identify viable IMTA set-ups based on key drivers of environmental and economic performance and, in this way, minimise the risks of misaligned practices. A first step towards realising the potential of IMTA is to carry out robust assessments that avoid key mistakes in both LCAs and CBAs, to which end we provide hands-on recommendations for future assessments
Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor Wiley , 2026. Vol. 18, nr 4
Nyckelord [en]
aquaculture, cost–benefit analysis, externalities, IMTA, life cycle assessment
Nationell ämneskategori
Miljövetenskap
Identifikatorer URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-82509 DOI: 10.1111/raq.70192 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105046501982 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-82509 DiVA, id: diva2:2093500
Anmärkning Funding text 1: This work was supported by Formas, Ministero dell\u2019Universit\u00E0 e della Ricerca (MUR), Suomen Akatemia and the European Union through the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP2023-725). The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (project number: SBEP2023-725) is acknowledged for funding. We also want to thank Yannic Wocken and Riccardo Napolitano for input and discussions in drafting the LCA recommendations for the BLUEBOOST project. The authors used Microsoft 365 Copilot Design for generating pictures for Figure\u00A01. The authors confirm that they have reviewed and verified the content generated by the AI tool for accuracy and integrity.;
Funding text 2: This work was supported by Formas, Ministero dell\u2019Universit\u00E0 e della Ricerca (MUR), Suomen Akatemia and the European Union through the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP2023\u2010725). Funding text 3: The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (project number: SBEP2023\u2010725) is acknowledged for funding. We also want to thank Yannic Wocken and Riccardo Napolitano for input and discussions in drafting the LCA recommendations for the BLUEBOOST project. The authors used Microsoft 365 Copilot Design for generating pictures for Figure 1 . The authors confirm that they have reviewed and verified the content generated by the AI tool for accuracy and integrity.
Funding details: Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas; Suomen Akatemia; Formas; Research Council of Finland, AKA; European Union through the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP2023-725); Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership; Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR); European Union; The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, (SBEP2023‐725)
2026-08-192026-08-192026-08-19 Bibliografiskt granskad