We are highly pleased to inform you that the second report in the series of FAO/BOBP-IGO Study on “Techno-economic Performance Review of the Main Global Fishing Fleets” is published.
This technical paper was written by Andrew Kitts, Raymon VanAnrooy, Sjef van Eijs, Jesica Pino Shibata, René Pallalever Pérez, Alex Augusto Gonçalves, Greg Ardini, Christopher Liese, Minling Pan and Erin Steiner. The preparation of this technical paper would not have been possible without the important organizational support by Dr Yugraj Singh Yadava and Mr Rajdeep Mukherjee of BOBP-IGO and Graciela Pereira of INFOPESCA, the technical review by the participants of the Expert meeting to validate the outcomes and finalize the techno-economic performance review of the main global fishing fleets, which was held at FAO headquarters in Rome, on 8–10 October 2019, and the formatting, design and publication assistance provided by Estefanía Burgos, Magda Morales and Marianne Guyonnet.
The country studies are based on fishing fleet data from surveys conducted in the period 2012–17 in the United States of America by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and fishing vessel surveys carried out in Brazil, Chile and Peru during 2018 by national fisheries experts. The review includes financial and economic information of 21 fishing fleet segments, including shrimp and groundfish trawlers, demersal trawlers, longliners, purse seiners, dredgers as well as hook and line fishing vessels. Analysis of the costs and earnings data of these important fishing fleet segments in North and South America showed that 81 percent of the fleet segments had a positive net cash flow. The net profit margins of 38 percent of the 21 fishing fleet segments were >10 percent. Two-thirds (67%) of the fleet segments presented positive results in terms of their capital productivity, as the return on fixed tangible assets (ROFTA) was positive. Twenty-four percent of the fleet segments showed a return on investment (ROI) figures of twenty percent or more. A majority of the Chilean and Peruvian fleet segments had ROIs of ten percent or higher in 2018. The financial and economic performance of the fishing fleet segments is not only affected by the seafood prices, but also by the fisheries management regime in place, fish species targeted, fish stock status and fishing methods and technologies applied. The vessel age structure shows an increasing trend for most of the fishing fleet segments in this review, which also contributed to increasing profitability of vessels in these fleet segments, as depreciation costs are low or non-existent.
The previous post on Techno-economic review of the major fishing fleet of Europe can be seen here