Bioeconomic evaluation of Eleutheronema tetradactylum farming: a case study in Taiwan

Eleutheronema tetradactylum is a recently developed product in aquaculture systems in Taiwan. Its production is concentrated in the Pingtung and Kaohsiung counties of Taiwan during the overwinter and oversummer seasons. In this study, a bio-economic approach was applied to investigate the mechanisms and economic profitability of commercial E. tetradactylum farming. The analysis consisted of two parts: (1) a cost–benefit analysis to determine the main components affecting profitability; and (2) multivariate statistics to clarify the relationship between biological and economic factors. The findings suggest that fry quality is an important factor in increasing the survival rate in aquaculture systems, and that increased survival rate in turn generates increased farm profitability and expansion options during the oversummer season, thus providing better economic performance. As feed cost is the key factor affecting production, improving feed management could increase the profitability of E. tetradactylum farming.

     

Economic analysis of tiger grouper <Emphasis Type="Italic">Epinephelus fuscoguttatus</Emphasis> and humpback grouper <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cromileptes altivelis</Emphasis> commercial cage culture in Indonesia

This study presents an economic analysis of tiger and humpback grouper at different production scales in Indonesia. The results highlight the non-viability of small-scale tiger grouper farming, with a 5-year projected negative cumulative cash flow of −IDR 18,102,650.00 and a negative net present value (NPV) of −IDR 22,059,576.28. An increased production scale of tiger grouper highlights a marginal viability for medium-scale farms (with a 5-year projected cumulative cash flow of IDR 198,320,673.00, a positive NPV of IDR 105,578,440.42; a benefit cost ratio of 1.25; an internal rate of return (IRR) of 88% and a payback period of 0.99 years), and an economically viable large-scale cage culture (with a 5-year projected cumulative cash of IDR 707,746,923.00; a NPV of IDR 406,801,749.07; a benefit cost ratio of 1.33; an internal rate of return of 157%; and a payback period of 0.57 years). The economic analysis of humpback grouper at different production scales highlighted a positive cumulative cash and NPV, a benefit cost ratio over 2, an internal rate of return over 300% and a payback period <1 year. A sensitivity analysis revealed that increased survival rate up to 80% would increase cumulative cash and NPV of small-scale tiger grouper cage culture. Additionally, improved profitability performance was associated with decreasing major production costs, increasing production and price of the product.