Economic efficiency analysis and fleet capacity assessment in Mediterranean fisheries

With fisheries resources being overexploited during the last decades, the matching of fleet capacity to resource conservation levels is urgently required. Data Envelopment Analysis was implemented to estimate and assess capacity utilization and efficiency for the first time in the eastern Mediterranean. The purse-seine fleet segments were found to operate below their capacity output level indicating the existence of overcapacity. The 24–40 m segment was evidenced to be more efficient than the 12–24 m fleet segment. Results suggested that purse-seiners could have increased their output by 89% (12–24 m) and 48% (24–40 m) providing current stock status and unrestricted access to resources. Fishing vessels may potentially improve their earnings by approximately 20% by increasing variable inputs. In data poor environments, such as the Mediterranean Sea, the simple DEA models applied in this study provide a useful approach to capacity and efficiency assessment. The quantitative measures of excess and overcapacity obtained, may contribute valuable information in balancing the productive capacity of the stock with the harvesting capacity of the fleet.