Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 6/13/18



While the livestock industry gets a bad rap for environmental impact in general, one of the results of a new study might surprise you.

Overall, livestock production uses less energy than most forms of seafood aquaculture, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin funded in part by the Seafood Industry Research Fund.

Farmed catfish, shrimp and tilapia used the most energy, mainly because constant water circulation must be powered by electricity, according to the study, which was published online June 11 in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

For the livestock industry, that’s the good news from the study. It goes on to say, however, that beef and farmed catfish production as much more taxing on the environment than wild-caught fish. Catfish aquaculture and beef produce about 20 times more greenhouse gases than farmed mollusks, small capture fisheries, farmed salmon and chicken, according to the study.

The study is based on nearly a decade of analysis, in which the co-authors reviewed hundreds of published life-cycle assessments for various types of animal protein production. Also called a “cradle-to-grave” analysis, these assessments look at environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product’s life.

Broadly, the study used four metrics as a way to compare environmental impacts across the many different types of animal food production: energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, potential to contribute excess nutrients — such as fertilizer — to the environment, and the potential to emit substances that contribute to acid rain.

Co-authors are Jeannette Banobi, a former UW research assistant in aquatic and fishery sciences; Teresa Pucylowski and Tim Walsworth, former UW graduate students; and Stephen Hall of Avalerion Capital.

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