Carbon Footprint report of the Irish Seafood Sector

1) Overall, the Irish seafood sector is a relatively low carbon emitting sector i.e., the sector has a low carbon footprint. This is because of the small size of the sector relative to farming, energy production, transport and other sectors of the economy, and also the fact that Irish seafood has a low carbon emission profile per tonne of landings.

2) Total carbon emissions for the Irish seafood sector are 396,207 tonnes CO2 eq. This total figure covers both catch fisheries and aquaculture segments. This represents 1.76% of emissions when compared to Irish agriculture emissions (2017-2019 average).

3) This study confirms that Irish seafood can generally be considered a ‘low carbon food’.

4) The Irish seafood sector is diverse, and the carbon footprint of different seafood products varies depending on the species in question and the methods used to cultivate or catch these species.

5) The drivers for decarbonising the Irish seafood sector will intensify in the future. The main drivers for emission reduction are (i) national obligations to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050, (ii) maintaining ecosystem biodiversity and sustainability, (iii) consumer demand for low-carbon products, and (iv) increasing fuel costs.