Bioeconomic analysis of production location of sea bream (Sparus aurata) cultivation

Abstract

This paper develops a bioeconomic model to evaluate the production of gilthead sea bream in floating cages based on two locations, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean. The model includes four sub-models: biologic, environment, production management, and economic. The biologic sub-model contains a growth model based on this species physiology. A wide range of farm scales were considered, deriving the production and input costs for each scale and scenario. The results for average costs showed increasing returns, with a rising internal rate of return (IRR). The efficient farm size was obtained for alternative management decisions and location scenarios. The results revealed that input costs, and therefore product costs, were higher in the Canary Islands than in the Mediterranean. However, environmental conditions in the Canary Islands are shown to be more favorable than in the Mediterranean, resulting in a more rapid growth, which leads to higher returns. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.