Seafood-energy-water nexus: A study on resource use efficiency and the environmental impact of seafood consumption in China

Issues regarding resource securities have risen exponentially because this global change corresponds to energy and water use intensification. Measures to mitigate the effects of the severity of the depletion and their environmental impacts require that resources accounting are not performed in isolation; a framework widely acknowledged as “nexus”. This study focused on the seafood supply chain taken into consideration the flow intensity and efficient usage of the resources along the chain. The study dealt in details the sub-units in the processing and packaging (PP) unit and the distributing and marketing (DM) unit along the chain. Moreover, the strength and efficient use of the resource was quantified as “nexus strength and nexus quality” to have a unified indicator to assess the interdependency and efficient use of resources in the seafood system. Result shows that; (1) about 2.92 × 108 kWh of energy and 4.23 × 107 m3 of water was used along the entire chain because of the direct consumption of seafood in China. It was further shown that, the quantity of seafood decreases along the chain and PP unit accounted for the highest usage of both energy (52.29%) and water (81.74%). (2) Handling and storage (HS) sector had the least nexus strength because it uses less energy and water though it received the highest quantity of seafood and PP had the highest SEW nexus strength. The PP unit was revealed the less efficient (lower nexus quality) unit because it uses majority of energy and water consumed in the whole chain hence contribute highly to related environmental impact released in the chain. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis (transport efficiency scenario, seafood use efficiency scenario) was conducted to compare resources consumption and efficiency usages in the sector. This information can assist with coherent policymaking and management to achieve efficiency and sustainability in the seafood sector.