Open-access fishing rent and efficiency—The case of gillnet vessels in Nha Trang, Vietnam

Government support and profitability effects – Vietnamese offshore fisheries

“…This support was far higher in 2011 and 2012 than that in 2008 [21,23]. Since fishers still had to face the market price of oil, the design of the financial support per trip is better than supporting a direct price reduction per litre of fuel [21]. However, the high amount of revenue-enhancing subsidies based on engine sizes is likely to lead to changes in the behaviour of vessel owners in the future.…”

“…At any time period (e.g., one year) in an open-access fishery, some vessels are Note: Due to unavailable data, the 2004, 2005 and 2008 average catches are calculated by taking gross revenue divided by regional average prices of fish in each year, respectively. We use information of gross revenue from published independent research papers for the Khanh Hoa's offshore fisheries ( a Kim Anh et al [20], b Duy et al [21], c Long et al [22], d Nga [23]). Price data are collected from traders who buy fish directly from fishers, with the same (common) prices among vessels for each year.…”

“…Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) mainly reflects the cash a fishing firm has earned from its fishing operations. 7 A positive EBITDA indicates that the gross revenue (GR) exceeds the vessel owner's operational and labour costs [30][31][32], and that there may exist IMR in the short term for the owners [21,26]. Meanwhile, rent is an EP indicator that measures the efficiency of a producer from society's perspective.…”

“…Fishers have to accept the market fuel price in their fishing operations; in reality, the fuel cost support was income support for fishers, although it may seem like an effort subsidy. Hence, this subsidy item is referred to as a revenue-enhancing subsidy [21]. Support for vessel insurance costs and accident insurance costs for fishers, and loans at a subsidised interest rates are defined as cost-reducing subsidies.…”

“…It is important to note that, in 2011 and 2012, compared to previous years, the average engine capacity of an offshore vessel was greater, and that the average total fishing days in a year was higher [20][21][22][23]. Furthermore, the number of Vietnam's offshore vessels operating in the SCS has increased from around 20,000 vessels in 2004 to nearly 28,000 vessels in 2012 (an increase of 4.2% p.a.…”