Investment and Farm Modeling for Feasibility Assessment and Decision Making in Aquaculture

Abstract

Successful and sustainable aquaculture development requires that culture technologies become transferred to the private sector as economically and financially viable businesses. Thorough business planning minimizes the risks of new aquaculture business start-ups and assists with obtaining investment and operating capital. Investment and farm economic models can assist decision makers by quantifying the tradeoffs associated with a variety of management decisions. A wide variety of models have been used over time to assess the economic feasibility of new aquaculture ventures, to analyze proposed new changes in management, and to evaluate possible effects of proposed policy alternatives. This paper reviews recent applications of various types of models to a variety of species, production systems, and policy alternatives in the aquaculture economics literature. Data requirements and model limitations are discussed. Comparisons are made across models that provide some general guidelines for investors, lenders, and entrepreneurs interested in the development of aquaculture businesses.