Biological and economic factors in the selection of cultured fish species and the development of a bio-economic model

The selection of candidate species for mariculture is determined by a number of biological factors, e.g. foraging efficiency, growth efficiency, mortality, grow-out period and susceptibility to environmental fluctuations, disease and crowding, as well as economic factors e.g. the supply and price of fry, grow-out cost and price of adult. A computer model incorporating these major factors is being developed, to determine and compare the potential of different culture species.