Fishing Eco-Efficiency of Ports in Northwest Spain

Fishing is an essential economic activity and source of livelihood for millions of people worldwide. However, overfishing and unsustainable practices have led to a decline in fish populations and the degradation of marine ecosystems. Moreover, fishing activities can contribute to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide and methane) from fishing vessels and seafood transportation. To mitigate the environmental impacts of fishing activities, sustainable fishing practices must be implemented to minimize the negative impacts of fishing on the environment while maintaining the productivity and diversity of fish populations and ecosystems. These practices include using selective fishing gear, avoiding fishing in vulnerable habitats, implementing fishery management plans, and reducing the carbon footprint of the fishing industry. To this end, and as a first step in defining efficient and effective measures towards the sustainability of capture fishing activity, an analysis of the environmental sustainability of the Galician fishing sector, one of the main European regions in this field, is presented in this work. An ecosystem-based indicator (ecological footprint, calculated by adding the so-called fishing ground footprint and the carbon footprint) was employed to quantify the main impacts of capture fishing during extractive activity. The catch composition and fuel consumption of the fleet based on the vessels’ power, and economic benefits, were the parameters used in this analysis. The results showed that ports with larger vessels and fleets seem to be more eco-efficient than those concentrating smaller vessels in targeting lower trophic level species.