Purpose: – Portugal is a country with one of the highest seafood consumption per capita in the world. The purpose of this paper is to understand the Portuguese knowledge and attitudes towards seafood and relate it to consumers’ environmental conscious. Design/methodology/approach: – Using an internet-based survey the authors investigated the relation of socio-demographic variables to consumption frequency and how knowledge about seafood is associated with interest in different information when purchasing seafood products. Findings: – Results demonstrate consumption of a high diversity of species. Tuna and cod are the top species related to convenience and food traditions. There is a preference to consume seafood mostly at home and prepared grilled. Differences between higher and lower knowledgeable consumers’ related to seafood, show that the first ones have a more diversified use of species and high prevalence of small pelagic fish. Research limitations/implications: – The findings are influenced by the sample obtained, which over-represents well-educated and higher income people. Moreover the self-reported consumption can be biased by individuals own perceptions and different seafood products. Better estimations of consumption frequency could result from asking more detailed information, as such as by species or meal occasions. Practical implications: – Portuguese consumers have high knowledge about seafood but it is not necessarily related to sustainable choices. To help in sustainable seafood choices it might be more effective to promote existing habits based on Portuguese traditions that still are good alternatives for the marine environment. Originality/value: – A higher consumer’s knowledge does not necessarily mean more sustainability.
10 September 2013 in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Packaging is fundamental for food preservation and transportation but generates an environmental burden from its production and end‐of‐life management. This review evaluates packaging contribution to the environmental performance of seafood products. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies were evaluated by both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis assessed how direct (e.g., packaging material) and indirect impacts (e.g., influence on seafood loss and waste) have been considered, while the quantitative analysis evaluated packaging contribution to products’ weight and climate change impact. Qualitative analysis revealed that seafood LCAs focus mainly on direct environmental impacts arising from packaging materials, for which some articles conducted sensitivity analysis to assess materials substitution. Recycling was found to be the most common recommendation to diminish direct potential environmental impacts arising from packaging end‐of‐life. However, standardized recovery rates and other end‐of‐life options (e.g., reuse), should be considered. Quantitative analysis revealed that cans' production contributes significantly to the overall climate change impact for canned products. On average, it contributes to 42% of a product's climate change impact and 27% of a product's weight. Packaging has a lower contribution when considering freezing, chilling, and other post‐harvesting processing. It represents on average less than 5% of a product's climate change impact (less than 1 kg CO 2 eq/kg) and 6% of a product's weight. Packaging material production is more relevant to aluminum, tinplate, and glass than for plastic and paper. Therefore, it is essential to accurately include these materials and their associated processes in inventories to improve the environmental assessment of seafood products.
Weight–length relationships (WLRs) are presented for 54 species sampled by several types of fishing gear between February 2004 and May 2007, in the Arade estuary (southern Portugal). WLRs for six species are presented for the first time.