| This thesis seeks to assess the contributions of the Maine lobster industry to the factors that cause certain broad-scale environmental impacts. This evaluation is done using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results of the LCA of the Maine lobster industry are then compared to the results of a licompanion study, an LCA of the southwest Nova Scotia lobster industry (Boyd and Tyedmers, in prep.). The results of the LCAs of these two similar lobster fishing regimes are compared in order to generate suggestions for improvement, and in order to determine the extent to which the Maine and Nova Scotia lobster management regimes determine the environmental performance of their respective fisheries. In addition, this thesis also evaluates the degree to which two recent management decisions regarding the Atlantic herring fishery in the north-eastern United States may effect fleet-wide fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. |
