Abstract—This study was aimed to assess environmental
impacts of fish culturing in Thailand using life cycle assessment
(LCA) method. The scope was a cradle-to-gate study of red nile
tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and striped catfish
(Pangasianodon hypophthalmus). The impact assessment
method of CML Baseline 2000 was applied to evaluate the
impacts in the categories of abiotic depletion, acidification and
global warming. The impacts of red nile tilapia were 3-4 times
higher than those of striped catfish. The global warming
potential of red nile tilapia was 2.96 kg CO2 eq, where as that of
striped catfish was 1.01 kg CO2 eq. The feeds, especially fish
meal, were the main impact contributors. Small replacement of
fish meal with soybean meal while maintaining the growth rate
of the fish was possible. This leaded to slightly decrease in the
environmental impacts. The environmental performance of fish
meal itself should be improved in order to reduce the impacts
from fish culture.
Index Terms—Fish culture, LCA, Nile tilapia, striped catfish.
All the authors are with the National Metal and Materials Technology
Center, Pathumthani, 12120 Thailand (e-mail: patcharp@mtec.or.th,
rungnapt@mtec.or.th).
Cite:Patcharaporn Pongpat and Rungnapa Tongpool, "Life Cycle Assessment of Fish Culture in Thailand: Case Study of Nile Tilapia and Striped Catfish," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 608-612, 2013.