How sustainable is canned fish?

Canned fish is becoming trendy. Sales of long-lasting fish are on the rise. That is why SPIEGEL is addressing the question of how sustainable canned fish is this week. Our managing director, Dr Ulrike Eberle, was interviewed on this topic.

Many fish stocks worldwide are overfished. From an ecological perspective, it is therefore particularly important to ensure that the fish you consume – whether canned, fresh or frozen – comes from sustainably fished stocks. This is indicated, for example, by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label or can be found in the WWF fish guide. There is also a seal that identifies sustainable production for fish and seafood from aquaculture: the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). And, of course, fish from organic farms can be purchased. Various organic associations offer fish and seafood products.

The article also takes a close look at the packaging of the fish and examines the tin more closely. Various life cycle assessment studies [1],show that tins can contribute around 42 per cent to the climate impact of the product. The high proportion is due to the manufacturing and energy consumption involved in preservation. This is because it is necessary to heat the products packed in tins to around 120 degrees Celsius in pressure vessels. And, of course, another important aspect of the environmental impact of tins is that they are recycled at the end of their life cycle. Tinplate and aluminium are easy to recycle.
All in all, this is a worthwhile article on the trend food of tinned fish! Thanks to Pinar Dogantekin for the interview.

Der Artikel beschäftigt sich aber auch dezidiert mit der Verpackung des Fischs und betrachtet die Dose genauer. Hier zeigen verschiedene Ökobilanzstudien dass Dosen zu rund 42 Prozent zur

[1]     Z. B. Almeida, C., Loubet, P., da Costa, T. P., Quinteiro, P., Laso, J., Baptista de Sousa, D., Cooney, R.,Mellett, S., Sonnemann, G., Rodríguez, C. J., Rowan, N., Clifford, E., Ruiz-Salmón, I.,Margallo, M., Aldaco, R., Nunes, M. L., Dias, A. C., & Marques, A. (2022). Packaging environmental impact on seafood supply chains: A review of life cycle assessment studies. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26, 1961–1978. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13189 Almeida, C.; Vaz, S.; Ziegler, F. (2015): Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of a Canned Sardine Product from Portugal. Journal of Industrial Ecology, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.12219;