Carbon emission intensities of aquatic food

This database lists carbon emission intensities/factors (unit: kg CO2 eq/kg live weight) for major aquatic food categories. Different species are classified into four categories based on potential production sources (inland and marine) and harvesting methods (aquaculture and capture): Inland_Aquaculture, Inland_Capture, Marine_Aquaculture, and Marine_Capture. Aquatic species are categorized according to the ISSCAAP (International Standard Statistical Classification of Aquatic Animals and Plants) standard, which divides all aquatic species into 9 major groups (Freshwater fishes, Diadromous fishes, Marine fishes, Crustaceans, Molluscs, Aquatic mammals, Aquatic animals, Aquatic animal products, Aquatic plants) and 50 subgroups. Emission factors are primarily derived from literature searches. Using the Web of Science database, individual searches were conducted for each category by combining species names (e.g., Carp, Shrimp, Seaweed) with greenhouse gas emission keywords (e.g., GHG, carbon footprint, carbon emission) as search topics (including titles, abstracts, and keywords). The search period was set from 2000 to 2024. Based on FAO’s 2022 global aquatic food harvest data, categories with production volumes below 0.1% were screened out, resulting in 56 species-source combinations accounting for 98.8% of total production. For groups lacking original reference data (e.g., a species category having capture data but missing aquaculture data), emission factors from similar categories were used as substitutes. For classifications labeled as "Miscellaneous" or "Undefined," the average emission factor of their respective major group was applied. In cases where only a single emission factor reference was available for a specific category, a standard deviation of 30% of the value was assumed instead of zero. Emission factors were annotated based on data reliability: category A indicates direct literature support, while category B denotes estimated values.