The Economics of Salmon Ranching

Stokes, Robert L.

doi:10.2307/3145693

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Of course, much uncertainty and risk are involved in both salmon farming and ranching. Salmon prices are determined by shifts in many factors, including the abundance of wild stocks, income growth in the consuming countries, and prices for such substitutes as tuna and beef (Stokes 1982). The more capital invested in technological equipment (with interest to be paid), and the higher the operation and maintenance costs, the more vulnerable the enterprise will be to fluctuations in the market price.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy economy of salmon aquaculture in the Baltic sea

Folke

1988

Environmental Management

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/ Resource utilization in Atlantic salmon aquaculture in the Baltic Sea was investigated by means of an energy analysis. A comparison was made between cage farming and sea ranching enterprises each with yearly yields of 40 t of Atlantic salmon. A variety of sea ranching options were evaluated, including (a) conventional ranching, (b) ranching employing a delayed release to the sea of young smolts, (c) harvesting salmon both by offshore fishing fleets and as they return to coastal areas, and (d) when offshore fishing is banned, harvesting salmon only as they return to coastal areas where released. Inputs both from natural ecosystems (i.e., fish consumed by ranched salmon while in the sea and raw materials used for producing dry food pellets) and from the economy (i.e., fossil fuels and energy embodied in economic goods and services) were quantified in tonnes for food energy and as direct plus indirect energy cost (embodied energy). The fixed solar energy (estimated as primary production) and the direct and indirect auxiliary energy requirements per unit of fish output were expressed in similar units. Similar quantities of living resources in tonnes per unit of salmon biomass output are required whether the salmon are feeding in the sea or are caged farmed. Cage farming is about 10 times more dependent on auxiliary energies than sea ranching. Sea ranching applying delayed release of smolts is 35-45% more efficient in the use of auxiliary energies than conventional sea ranching and cage farming. Restriction of offshore fishing would make sea ranching 3 to 6.5 times more efficient than cage farming. The fixed solar energy input to Atlantic salmon aquaculture is 4 to 63 times larger than the inputs of auxiliary energy. Thus, cage farming and sea ranching are both heavily dependent on the productivity of natural ecosystems. It is concluded that sustainable development of the aquaculture industry must be founded on ecologically integrated technologies which utilize the free production in marine ecosystems without exhausting or damaging the marine environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%