Environmental Impact Assessment in Aquaculture: Life Cycle Assessment Meta-analysis

As global demand for aquatic products and seafood is increasing, aquaculture has become the world’s fastest growing animal production sector. In this situation, the environmental impact of aquaculture is so important and become a challengeable issue for stakeholders. In attempts to evaluate the environmental consequences of this rapid expansion, life cycle assessment (LCA) approach has become a frequently used method. In this study, analysis was done beetwen 2000-2012 with the use Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Finally, A number of 14 papers dealing with the life cycle assessment of aquaculture were reviewed and then, we tried to introduce LCA approach and it’s various dimensions. The six parameters include: functional unit, system’s boundary, date type, impact assessment methods and interpretation methods. Finally, we introduce a model for aqauaculture systems in Iran.