44 DECEMBER 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG species in the country were selected, considering the diversity of farming systems, including earthen ponds, cages and dams, spatial distribution along the country and farmers of all sizes. The focus of this article is to compare the cost structure of businesses farming tilapia in cages (Fig. 2) or in ponds (Fig. 3). Methodology for Collection of Cost Information First, preliminary technical coefficients were defined for each species and production system after technical visits to aquaculture farms. To gather cost information, a panel methodology was employed. A technical meeting was held with fish farmers, researchers, technicians and suppliers to identify the typical farm in the region (Fig. 4). In this group, consisting of 6 to 10 people, the typical aquaculture farm was described. The most frequent production costs and zootechnical coefficients were gathered in a spreadsheet specifically developed for this purpose. At the end of each meeting, participants were able to check important technical and economic indicators to have a general view of aquaculture in that region at that moment. Later, input costs and market prices of farms were monitored monthly to provide inputs for an intertemporal analysis of benefits to all actors in the production chain and aquaculture sector. The operating cost methodology was adapted from Matsunaga (1976). Effective operating cost (EOC) includes all expenses in the Aquaculture production in Brazil has been increasing by 10 percent per year over the last decade, and was worth US$ 1.29 billion in 2015 (IBGE 2016). The country has numerous natural and built infrastructure advantages for aquaculture development, accompanied by growing domestic and external demand. However, bottlenecks related to the availability of economic information persist. Relevant economic data at the farmer level is needed to support decisionmaking, especially regarding economic viability of the business. Furthermore, publicly available aggregated statistics are essential to inform the development of public policies on insurance, credit, taxes, development policies, environmental licensing, research, technology transfer and technical assistance. To contribute to filling the gap of management data at the farmer level, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) carried out a project between 2014 and 2016 to collect production cost information from aquaculture farms throughout the country. The study covered 27 regions, distributed in 11 states in all five Brazilian macroregions (Fig. 1). Six aquaculture species were considered: tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), spotted catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum), pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Representative production farms for these main commercial Comparative Economic Performance of Aquaculture Farms in Brazil Andrea Elena Pizarro Muñoz, Fabricio Pereira Rezende, Marcela Mataveli and Renata Melon Barroso FIGURE 1. Aquaculture centers and species studied from 2014 to 2016. Figure by Marta Ummus. FIGURE 2. Tilapia in cages in Furnas Reservoir, Minas Gerais. Photo: Andrea Muñoz.
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