New Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool launched

An online tool designed to support the seafood sector’s response to climate change has been launched.  

Seafish, the public body that supports the UK seafood industry, has developed the Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool to help businesses measure and reduce their products’ carbon footprint and contribute to meeting net-zero targets. 

The tool, which is available now online, allows seafood businesses to sign-up and access an online platform where they can input their supply chain data, such as greenhouse gas emissions associated with processing operations.  

Product carbon footprints can then be generated, and potential hotspots identified, providing the data needed to allow those businesses to address carbon related issues in their supply chain. 

The development has been funded jointly by the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) in England, and Seafish and developed by Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk, a leading international expert in food systems sustainability. 

Seafish’s Head of Responsible Sourcing, Stuart McLanaghan, described how the tool can support businesses working to reduce their carbon footprint. 

He said: “The Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool is an important part of our work to support the UK seafood sector transition to net-zero. 

“It is aimed at the entire UK seafood supply chain, but we envisage that buyers within retail, food service and processing will be amongst the main users.  

“The tool provides several benefits for industry but will first and foremost enable industry to identify carbon footprints for their seafood products and understand the hotspots or risks in their supply chains. This is important as robust data and information are needed to help businesses plan and make informed investment decisions to drive transformation to accelerate the decarbonisation of shared seafood supply chains, including via pre-competitive collaboration.” 

The central aim is that the tool will provide the engine to deliver the seafood sector’s ambitions to decarbonise in line with the UK’s 2050 net-zero target (2045 in Scotland.)

The tool has been available for industry beta-testing and use within the seafood industry since the end of 2023 while fine tuning and other refinements were made.  

lt also includes a public facing area, where visitors can access resources including the background methodology, frequently asked questions and view indicative carbon footprints for seafood products typically retailed in the UK.      

UK based seafood importer, processor and distributor, New England Seafood, is one organisation supporting the development. 

Cassie Leisk, the company’s People and Planet Group Director, praised the tool’s ability to turn complex data into easy to understand results for businesses. 

She said: “The tool is easy to use, it’s really intuitive. 

“You don’t need to have a lot of carbon knowledge or expertise to be able to access it. 

“The whole point of the tool is it’s something anyone in the business can use whether you’re working on sustainability, working specifically on carbon, if you’re a CEO or working in ops. 

“For me it’s something that’s helpful to translate some quite detailed, technical information into something simple for anybody to access.” 

The tool builds on Seafish’s two previous carbon profiling tools which enabled companies to evaluate the carbon impact of their wild capture seafood products.  

This updated tool provides a more user-friendly one-stop shop platform, includes aquaculture supply chains and boasts enhanced functionality, as well as a range of other benefits. 

Another organisation already familiar with how it can help businesses work towards their own carbon related targets is one of the UK’s major retailers, Tesco. 

Ben Lambden, Tesco’s Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Manager, described how the tool supports the business. 

He said: “The tool is super important because it enables us to baseline carbon completely through the supply base - so at primary, at wild capture and aquaculture, enabling us to really understand where we’re at and how we can best reach our targets. 

“The beauty of the tool is it’s continuously developing so, as you continue to use it, more data will be added and reviewed and it should get easier to use.” 

Nicolas Cartier, CEO of Mérieux NutriSciences, said the organisation was “very proud” to have played a key role in this important initiative to help advance sustainability in the UK seafood industry. 

He added: “Drawing upon our expertise in environmental footprinting, software engineering, and data analysis, we aim to provide a valuable resource that will empower the seafood industry to steer towards a greener future.” 

Mike Sheldon, chair of the Seafish board added: “The fantastic thing about this initiative is that it has the backing of so many important players out there in the market who are all motivated to have one tool that the whole industry uses. 

“So what we should be able to do is demonstrate the credentials of the industry, where they already are, about what a good job a lot of people are doing already, how fast they’re moving to make things even better and, of course, the direction of travel to a really high-performing industry.” 

To watch a short promotional video on the tool or for more general information, please visit Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool | Seafish 

The tool can be accessed at https://seafoodcarbonprofilingtool.seafish.org 

For more information on the software developer, visit Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk | Better Food. Better Health. Better World. (blonksustainability.nl)