Techno-economic performance review of selected fishing fleets in North and South America

Book excerpt: This techno-economic performance review of selected fishing fleets in North and South America presents the findings of four country level studies of fishing fleets in the United States of America, Brazil, Chile and Peru. 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, using survey data from 2012 -2017 for the US fleet segments and 2018 data for the South American countries’ fleets 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%. 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 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 age structure of the fishing vessels shows an increasing trend for most of the fishing fleet segments in this review, which adds to the apparent profitability of the vessels in these fleet segments as depreciation and interests on loans are minimized.