Socioeconomic Indicators as a Complement to Life Cycle Assessment The Case of Salmon Production A Presentation for IntLCA Portland, Oregon, October 2007 Credit: American Rivers Sarah Kruse 1 Anna Flysjö 2 , Nadja Kasperczyk 3 , and Astrid Scholz 1 Ecotrust SIK-Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology The Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS)

Sarah Kruse 1 Anna Flysjö 2 , Nadja Kasperczyk 3 , and Astrid Scholz 1

Ecotrust

SIK-Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology

The Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS)

Project Background & Overview Background The demand for seafood products is increasing The impacts of both the modern fishing and aquaculture industry are not widely understood Goal is to provide a basis upon which consumers and producers can make sustainable choices and policymakers can promote improvements Overview LCA of major salmon fishing & farming systems globally Phase 1: North-East Pacific October 2005 to March 2007 Phase 2: North-East Atlantic and Chile May 2007 to December 2008

Background

The demand for seafood products is increasing

The impacts of both the modern fishing and aquaculture industry are not widely understood

Goal is to provide a basis upon which consumers and producers can make sustainable choices and policymakers can promote improvements

Overview

LCA of major salmon fishing & farming systems globally

Phase 1: North-East Pacific

October 2005 to March 2007

Phase 2: North-East Atlantic and Chile

May 2007 to December 2008

Today’s Focus Take accepted socioeconomic sustainability standards and operationalize them as a set of widely applicable indicators that complement the traditional LCA framework Indicator Selection Indicator Categorization and Definition Application to Salmon Production Systems

Take accepted socioeconomic sustainability standards and operationalize them as a set of widely applicable indicators that complement the traditional LCA framework

Indicator Selection

Indicator Categorization and Definition

Application to Salmon Production Systems

Indicator Selection Use both top-down and bottom-up approaches Focus on finding indicators to describe existing standards and broad societal values Acknowledge limitations of and gaps in existing data as well as industry specific needs Three indicator criteria Relevance Practicability Validity

Use both top-down and bottom-up approaches

Focus on finding indicators to describe existing standards and broad societal values

Acknowledge limitations of and gaps in existing data as well as industry specific needs

Three indicator criteria

Relevance

Practicability

Validity

Indicator Categorization and Definition Process resulted in two categories of indicators Additive Descriptive: General and Specific Fair Price for Salmon Fair Wage Production Costs Example Maybe Maybe Yes Comparability Specific General General Applicability Quantitative or qualitative Quantitative or qualitative Quantitative Measurement method No No Yes Relation to the functional unit Specific General Descriptive Indicators Additive Indicators Indicator Characteristic

Process resulted in two categories of indicators

Additive

Descriptive: General and Specific

Indicators for Salmon Production Distance traveled Access to bathroom/potable water Minimum age of workers Age distribution Right to organize Discrimination/gender Forced labor Hours worked per week Employment benefits Fair wage Descriptive General Compliance Deaths/Accidents Adjacency Gendered person hours Owner-operator Person hours of production Latent quota Value-added Access Gendered labor costs Fair price Labor costs Contribution to income Production costs Descriptive Specific Additive

Distance traveled

Access to bathroom/potable water

Minimum age of workers

Age distribution

Right to organize

Discrimination/gender

Forced labor

Hours worked per week

Employment benefits

Fair wage

Compliance

Deaths/Accidents

Adjacency

Gendered person hours

Owner-operator

Person hours of production

Latent quota

Value-added

Access

Gendered labor costs

Fair price

Labor costs

Contribution to income

Production costs

Example - Price Indicator * These values are approximations based on a case study from Cordova, Alaska to Portland, Oregon. $44.06 $37.45 $41.85 Consumer Pays Wholesale/Retail $19.31 $13.31 $17.79 Transport (Cordova to Portland) $19.20 $13.20 $16.84 Wholesale Pays Processor $8.04 $8.04 $8.04 Processor Pays Fishery Smoked Fillet Frozen Fillet Fresh Fillet Price Per Kilogram of Troll Caught Alaska Chinook*

Example - Value Added Indicator * These values are approximations based on a case study from Cordova, Alaska to Portland, Oregon.    Consumer $24.75 $24.13 $24.07 Wholesale/Retail $0.11 $0.11 $0.95 Transport (Cordova to Portland) $11.15 $5.16 $8.79 Processor $8.04 $8.04 $8.04 Fishery Smoked Fillet Frozen Fillet Fresh Fillet Value Added Per Kilogram of Troll Caught Alaska Chinook*

Example – Novel Use of LCA Data Can calculate the integrated “food miles” and associated emission intensity

Can calculate the integrated “food miles” and associated emission intensity

Summary of Findings Difficulty with integration Access to data and data gaps System boundaries Assess of tradeoffs between stakeholders, indicators and pillars of sustainability Allocation Defining “baselines” Interpretation of the indicators “ Complement” versus “Integration” Generally Develop indicators that are widely applicable Focus on a limited number of indicators in the first case study Case Study Specific Data

Difficulty with integration

Access to data and data gaps

System boundaries

Assess of tradeoffs between stakeholders, indicators and pillars of sustainability

Allocation

Defining “baselines”

Interpretation of the indicators

“ Complement” versus “Integration”

Generally

Develop indicators that are widely applicable

Focus on a limited number of indicators in the first case study

Case Study Specific

Data

Acknowledgements Lenfest Ocean Program Project team Consultants N. Kasperczyk, M. Gorny, J. Ford, N. Arsenault Ecotrust communications and design staff Countless generous data sources

Lenfest Ocean Program

Project team

Consultants N. Kasperczyk, M. Gorny, J. Ford, N. Arsenault

Ecotrust communications and design staff

Countless generous data sources