Globally, marine capture fish production reaches a staggering 80 million metric tons annually (FAO 2024). However, marine capture fisheries come with a hefty environmental cost, consuming approximately 40 billion liters of fuel each year and emitting approximately 179 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Put differently, approximately 4% of the total greenhouse gas emissions are generated by various food production systems. Specifically, for every ton of liveweight fish landed, approximately 1.8 tons of CO2 are emitted (Parker et al., 2018). The present study estimated fuel utilization, energy use intensity, equivalent CO2 emissions and environmental damage caused by mechanized longline-cum-gillnet fishing vessels operating in the southeastern Arabian Sea. To compare critical parameters those, impact the environment, the carbon footprint of the landed marine fish catch was estimated via the cradle-to-gate approach of life cycle assessment (LCA). The size of vessels and engine power were directly proportional to the carbon footprint per kg of landed catch (37.5% more in the large vessel than in the medium vessel). Among the different recurring operational inputs, fossil fuel (diesel) contributed the most (95.8%) to equivalent CO2 emissions. The study’s significant findings could help provide valuable input for researchers and policymakers to focus on measures to reduce adverse environmental effects due to fossil fuel burning and other allied activities for fishing operations.
