HOW TO MEASURE THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CHANGES IN GROWTH, FEED EFFICIENCY AND SURVIVAL IN AQUACULTURE

Abstract

In this article we introduce a variety of bio-economic models that can be used to calculate the economic benefits associated with improved productivity in aquaculture. In the aquaculture industry, three important biological productivity factors are growth, survival and feed efficiency. The profitability of improving productivity factors, especially growth, is highly dependent upon the cost factor structure, production system, its constraints and other factors within the supply chain. Therefore we present a number of different bio-economical models that can be used to robustly assess the economic impacts in different production environments. These models are introduced with case examples across a range of aquaculture species and production systems. We calculate changes in profitability through a reduction in production costs and any potential increases in product price premiums via the use of weight dependent unit profit as the outcome in cost-benefit analysis, so that results may be expanded to cover different volumes.