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J. G. García et al.
9.1 Introduction
Industrial octopus ongrowing carried out by fishermen associations in Galicia began
in 1996, reaching a production of 12 t in 1997. Interest fundamentally arose from
the results achieved through studies about this species’ culture by the research teams
at the Vigo Coastal Centre of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Iglesias et al.
1997) and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University
of Santiago de Compostela (Rama-Villar et al. 1997). In recent years, several small
companies have made attempts on an experimental scale, uncovering the big potential that this species ongrowing can have. However, available technology is scarce
at present due to the impossibility to complete the artificial biological cycle at an
industrial level yet (Iglesias et al. 2004). On the one hand, it is not currently possible
to provide a mass production of subadults for ongrowing, and the supply through
the fisheries is not always guaranteed; on the other hand, there is no commercial
diet available either. These companies reached a maximum production of 49.4 t in
2000, though in 2011 decreased to 2.8 t (press release by the Government of Galicia
in 2012), and in 2013 solely one company remains active. Simultaneously, diverse
studies of some parameters have been carried out to optimize the production system
and identify some factors of interest for developing operations (Rama-Villar et al.
1997; Luaces-Canosa and Rey-Méndez 1999; Tuñón et al. 2000, 2001; Rodríguez
et al. 2003; Rey-Méndez et al. 2003).
There is an evident interest in searching new species for aquaculture production,
and to increase the diversity of marine culture products it is convenient to select
species with a widespread consumption and a high commercial value, as it is the
case with the common octopus (Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Chapela et al. 2006). The fattening studies performed to date have predicted that the common octopus is an important candidate for marine aquaculture, showing optimum ongrowing conditions,
high growth rates, easy adaptation for harvesting and feeding up and an appreciable
market value (Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Miliou et al. 2005).
Octopus development at an industrial scale requires mass production of subadults to initiate ongrowing (Navarro and Villanueva 2000; Iglesias et al. 2004,
2007) and specific artificial diets to obtain satisfactory performances (Lee et al.
1991; Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Cerezo Valverde et al. 2008). The majority of octopusfattening activities have taken place in Galicia (northwest Spain), though new
experiences were also encountered recently in the Mediterranean Sea. However,
there are two particular conditioning factors in the Mediterranean area: (1) the
fattening activity would be limited by the high temperatures during the summer
months (Aguado Giménez and García García 2002) and (2) environmental issues,
as well as coastal policy and coastal zone management requirements, which would
make open sea (offshore) systems an optimal option.
Work carried out to date concentrates on cost accounting of octopus ongrowing,
in floating cages in protected areas (estuaries), open sea or land-based tanks. It is
particularly interesting to accomplish economic studies in the field of feasibility and
cost analysis, addressing the evaluation of the ongrowing current system and the
possible future alternatives. In this sense, the purpose of the econometric models is
J. G. García et al.
9.1 Introduction
Industrial octopus ongrowing carried out by fishermen associations in Galicia began
in 1996, reaching a production of 12 t in 1997. Interest fundamentally arose from
the results achieved through studies about this species’ culture by the research teams
at the Vigo Coastal Centre of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Iglesias et al.
1997) and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University
of Santiago de Compostela (Rama-Villar et al. 1997). In recent years, several small
companies have made attempts on an experimental scale, uncovering the big potential that this species ongrowing can have. However, available technology is scarce
at present due to the impossibility to complete the artificial biological cycle at an
industrial level yet (Iglesias et al. 2004). On the one hand, it is not currently possible
to provide a mass production of subadults for ongrowing, and the supply through
the fisheries is not always guaranteed; on the other hand, there is no commercial
diet available either. These companies reached a maximum production of 49.4 t in
2000, though in 2011 decreased to 2.8 t (press release by the Government of Galicia
in 2012), and in 2013 solely one company remains active. Simultaneously, diverse
studies of some parameters have been carried out to optimize the production system
and identify some factors of interest for developing operations (Rama-Villar et al.
1997; Luaces-Canosa and Rey-Méndez 1999; Tuñón et al. 2000, 2001; Rodríguez
et al. 2003; Rey-Méndez et al. 2003).
There is an evident interest in searching new species for aquaculture production,
and to increase the diversity of marine culture products it is convenient to select
species with a widespread consumption and a high commercial value, as it is the
case with the common octopus (Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Chapela et al. 2006). The fattening studies performed to date have predicted that the common octopus is an important candidate for marine aquaculture, showing optimum ongrowing conditions,
high growth rates, easy adaptation for harvesting and feeding up and an appreciable
market value (Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Miliou et al. 2005).
Octopus development at an industrial scale requires mass production of subadults to initiate ongrowing (Navarro and Villanueva 2000; Iglesias et al. 2004,
2007) and specific artificial diets to obtain satisfactory performances (Lee et al.
1991; Vaz-Pires et al. 2004; Cerezo Valverde et al. 2008). The majority of octopusfattening activities have taken place in Galicia (northwest Spain), though new
experiences were also encountered recently in the Mediterranean Sea. However,
there are two particular conditioning factors in the Mediterranean area: (1) the
fattening activity would be limited by the high temperatures during the summer
months (Aguado Giménez and García García 2002) and (2) environmental issues,
as well as coastal policy and coastal zone management requirements, which would
make open sea (offshore) systems an optimal option.
Work carried out to date concentrates on cost accounting of octopus ongrowing,
in floating cages in protected areas (estuaries), open sea or land-based tanks. It is
particularly interesting to accomplish economic studies in the field of feasibility and
cost analysis, addressing the evaluation of the ongrowing current system and the
possible future alternatives. In this sense, the purpose of the econometric models is