EVALUATING THE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY OF NEW ENGLAND'S OYSTER AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY    

Oyster aquaculture is a rapidly expanding industry in Maine and New England. Several different production methods are currently employed in this industry to raise oysters to market size. Each method involves a certain level of capital and labor intensity. For example, the technique known as bottom planting consists of seeding an area with small oysters and allowing them to grow to market size on the ocean floor before returning to harvest them. This method requires relatively little capital or labor on the part of the grower, but tends to involve higher rates of oyster mortality than other methods. Survival rates can be improved by using costlier production techniques such as floating or bottom cages, oyster rafts, or other contained culture methods. One goal of this project is to quantify the differences in production efficiency between these methods. The study will also assess the relative technical efficiency of oyster growers in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

A mixed mode survey has been designed to investigate many aspects of New England's oyster aquaculture industry including production efficiency, risk preferences, site selection and social networking. The survey will be sent to over 400 oyster growers located throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Respondents will have the option to complete the survey either online or by mail. They will be compensated for their time.

This paper will focus on assessing production efficiency in the industry. Growers will be asked about their production methods, as well as the inputs used in their oyster growing operations. These include labor, oyster seed, fuel and a variety of capital costs. A stochastic frontier model will be employed to evaluate the production efficiency of these operations. This will allow us to assess the relative efficiency of the different production methods that are currently in use in New England's oyster aquaculture industry. We will also compare the relative production efficiency of oyster growers in Maine and New Hampshire to those in Massachusetts, which has a larger and more established oyster aquaculture industry.

This study will provide a tool that allows individual oyster growers to evaluate the technical efficiency of the production methods they are currently employing. This analysis will also have important policy implications. Assessing the relative efficiency of Maine's oyster aquaculture industry will allow policymakers to determine whether more resources need to be dedicated to education and outreach to improve outcomes in this industry. This information could play a critical role in helping Maine's oyster aquaculture industry continue to grow and be successful.