Economic feasibility of Pabda and stinging catfish culture in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in Bangladesh

Recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) is a unique approach that offers total control to culture a wide variety of aquatic species. As capital investment is higher for setting up RAS, it is necessary to conduct an economic feasibility analysis based on real data. A structured questionnaire was used to collect all economic and technical data on two catfish species, viz., Pabda (Ompok pabda) and Shing (Heteropneustes fossilis), cultured in an RAS farm. The ultimate objective was to estimate net cash flow, net present value (NPV), profitability index (PI), payback period, discounted payback period, internal rate of return (IRR), and sensitivity analysis to find out the best profitability indicators. The analysis revealed that the IRR were 4% and 16% for Pabda and Shing production, respectively. However, for Pabda and Shing productions, the payback periods were 15 years and 4 months and 6 years and 2 months, respectively. The NPV value was positive for Shing production and negative for Pabda. On the other hand, the PI was lower than one for Pabda production and higher than one for Shing production. Therefore, the results showed that the Shing production in the RAS facility could be economically feasible; however, Pabda production may not be viable in RAS due to lower production and longer culture period. This study may suggest that by increasing the production capacity of the farm and market price of the product through the proper supply chain and by decreasing the initial investment, cost of fingerlings and feed, profitability can be achieved in RAS in Bangladesh.