Fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions of world fisheries

作者：Parker Robert W R^*; Blanchard Julia L; Gardner Caleb; Green Bridget S; Hartmann Klaas; Tyedmers Peter H; Watson Reg A

来源：Nature Climate Change, 2018, 8(4): 333-+.

DOI：10.1038/s41558-018-0117-x

Food production is responsible for a quarter of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. Marine fisheries are typically excluded from global assessments of GHGs or are generalized based on a limited number of case studies. Here we quantify fuel inputs and GHG emissions for the global fishing fleet from 1990-2011 and compare emissions from fisheries to those from agriculture and livestock production. We estimate that fisheries consumed 40 billion litres of fuel in 2011 and generated a total of 179 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent GHGs (4% of global food production). Emissions from the global fishing industry grew by 28% between 1990 and 2011, with little coinciding increase in production (average emissions per tonne landed grew by 21%). Growth in emissions was driven primarily by increased harvests from fuel-intensive crustacean fisheries. The environmental benefit of low-carbon fisheries could be further realized if a greater proportion of landings were directed to human consumption rather than industrial uses.

• 出版日期2018-4