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Management strategies of stocking density and length off culture period for the Catarina scallop Argopecten circularis (Sowerby): a bioeconomic approach
Author(s) -
HernándezLiamas A
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
aquaculture research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2109
pISSN - 1355-557X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2109.1997.00855.x
Subject(s) - scallop , stocking , biology , profit (economics) , fishery , internal rate of return , stocking rate , statistics , economics , mathematics , production (economics) , microeconomics
A bioeconomic analysis was made to help define management strategies of stocking density and length of culture period for the scallop Argopecten circularis (Sowerby). The internal rate of return (IRR) was used as a criterion for maximizing profit at different plant sizes. Analyses were made at low and high stocking rates. For plant sizes larger than 1.2 million juveniles, using high densities improved the IRR but had higher risk because of critical inconsistencies in survival. High sensitivity of the IRR to stocking density and culture period required these variables to be strictly controlled to maximize the IRR. The sensitivity of IRR to changes of ± 5% in the values of the parameters of the bioeconomic model was found to be significantly different ( P < 0.01) between plant sizes. The IRR was particularly sensitive to the maximum size attainable by the organisms, mortality, sale price and cost of equipment for grow‐out. The importance of considering uncertainty in the parameter estimates when projecting a pilot plant is addressed.