Oysters represent an important portion of the world’s total aquaculture production. In recent
years, in Italy, oyster farming has progressively increased its role in the economic growth of the
aquaculture sector and still has great potential for growth. As in any other production, oyster farming
generates environmental impacts over an oyster’s life cycle, due to material, energy, fuel, and water
use. The aim of this work was to carry out a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of 1 kg of
fresh oysters of commercial size produced in the Po delta area, northern Italy. Two scenarios were
considered. The current scenario provides for oyster seed purchasing from France and transport to
Italy, whereas the alternative scenario includes in situ seed production in order to realize a complete
local and traceable supply chain. Eco-indicator® 99-H and ReCiPe® midpoint (H) v.1.12 were used
to perform the impact assessments. The overall impacts of the two scenarios were very similar and
indicated that the main hotspots were the fattening and prefattening phases of farming, which were
common in both scenarios. Focusing the analysis on the first stages, transport from France had a
greater impact than did local seed production, emphasizing the importance of a short supply chain in
aquaculture production