Resource productivity and costs of aquaculture practices: Economic-sustainability perspectives from U.S. catfish farming

Abstract

Practical approaches that estimate farm-level use and efficiencies of major resources would measure both environmental and economic sustainability of aquaculture production along with providing inferences on improving both sustainability components. This study used U.S. catfish farm data to evaluate the economic sustainability of nine commercial catfish production strategies in terms of the productivity and costs of use of major resources. Intensive production systems such as split ponds and intensively aerated ponds demonstrated greatest efficiency in the use of land, water, energy, labor, management, and capital resources. Feed use efficiency and feed conversion ratios on commercial farms showed less variation across production intensities. The productivity of resource use was greater and the costs per kg of fish lower on larger, than smaller farms for labor, management, and capital across all production strategies. Given that management, fixed capital, and salaried labor are fixed costs, the greater efficiencies measured likely reflect effects of economies of scale in resource use. Study results support recent findings that underlying economic sustainability was the key driver of progressive adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies in the U.S. catfish industry. The resource metrics used in this study have broader applications in aquaculture and allow for closer and more efficient monitoring of key farm resources and sustainability of resource use.