Productivity in organic and conventional salmon aquaculture

Abstract

This report provides a comparative analysis of productivity in conventional and organic salmon aquaculture. Regulations in organic salmon farming impose several restrictions on production that are not present in conventional salmon farming. We have analysed the effect of a fish density regulation on the economic performance of salmon farms. A fish density regulation has two possible consequences. First, with a given cage volume, it leads to a reduction in total production at the farm. Second, it leads to an increase in costs per kilo produced. We undertook a linear programming analysis of a conventional salmon farm and organic salmon farms with open and closed cage systems. The results from the analysis indicated strongly that the economic performance is sensitive to the maximum fish density.