157
9 Farming Costs and Benefits, Marketing Details, Investment Risks
Among the diverse aspects that should be improved and which are hindering the
development of the octopus fattening in Galicia, the dependency on the environment must be especially emphasized, both in obtaining subadults and in their feeding. According to the companies consulted, obtaining subadults is the main problem
to be solved due to the supply difficulties faced by the few companies dedicated to
the ongrowing process, which also depend on the large annual catch fluctuations in
the fishery. A further drawback to secure subadults is the reluctance of many fishermen to develop this activity due to fear of a lowering of prices through increased
production. In fact, the sole company that currently remains in business in Galicia
is an association of octopus fishermen (Samertolameu S. Coop. Galega), which has
guaranteed the provision of subadults through its associates; these types of associations take this activity as an opportunity to obtain further benefits from the extractive fishing. Another aspect is the current fishing dependency on species to be used
as food resources for fattening, mainly discards from the industrial trawling fisheries; the number of units dedicated to this type of fishery has decreased in the past
years, which has made obtaining suitable food even more difficult and expensive.
To overcome these problems, it is necessary to close the full biological cycle in
captivity for obtaining subadults from hatcheries; furthermore, it also becomes crucial to work on a fodder design and manufacture to avoid the dependence on fishing,
aiming to improve the survival and growth of the individuals being cultured.
Otherwise, García García et al. (2004b) calculated a production cost of 7.05 € kg
−1
in an intensive exploitation of land-based tanks, with an annual production of 100 t
and commercial size average of 3.5 kg (size T2). When updated to 2011, it would
result an average cost of 8.97 € kg
−1
. The high feeding cost in Table 9.2 is due to
fattening the subadults from an initial weight of 500 g to a final average weight of
3,500 g; hence, the feeding cost is noticeably higher than in the previous case. In
the same way, it estimates an initial low weight and consistently the subadult cost
is relatively lower. The average price of size T2 in recent years is 8.40 € kg
−1
, much
higher (7.60 € kg
−1
) than the one considered in García García et al. (2004b). The
production cost in land-based tanks is noticeably higher than the values obtained by
García García and García García (2011) in open sea cages for the same size (T2),
which amounted to 6.61 € kg
−1
. This difference is mainly due to the energy required
for pumping and the necessary maintenance of land-based facilities.
The most recent work on octopus fattening in cages at open sea (García García
and García García 2011) provides an economic analysis of profitability in the Mediterranean using offshore systems. From an economic point of view, the suitability
after completing two ongrowing cycles is analysed. The exploitation was set up to
carry out the ongrowing in open sea cages, with a capacity of 30,000 individuals
by cycle, which corresponds to 150 cages. They used the cage described in García
García et al. (2009) in the Mediterranean. Table 9.2 shows the relevant results of the
two ongrowing cycles compared with the two previous works. The items with highest costs, and therefore those with the greatest economic importance, are in order of
magnitude the feeding, fixed assets, subadults and labour costs. When comparing
the aforementioned costs to those of fish fattening in cages, the cost of subadults has
a relatively minor importance in the latter, fundamentally due to the development of
9 Farming Costs and Benefits, Marketing Details, Investment Risks
Among the diverse aspects that should be improved and which are hindering the
development of the octopus fattening in Galicia, the dependency on the environment must be especially emphasized, both in obtaining subadults and in their feeding. According to the companies consulted, obtaining subadults is the main problem
to be solved due to the supply difficulties faced by the few companies dedicated to
the ongrowing process, which also depend on the large annual catch fluctuations in
the fishery. A further drawback to secure subadults is the reluctance of many fishermen to develop this activity due to fear of a lowering of prices through increased
production. In fact, the sole company that currently remains in business in Galicia
is an association of octopus fishermen (Samertolameu S. Coop. Galega), which has
guaranteed the provision of subadults through its associates; these types of associations take this activity as an opportunity to obtain further benefits from the extractive fishing. Another aspect is the current fishing dependency on species to be used
as food resources for fattening, mainly discards from the industrial trawling fisheries; the number of units dedicated to this type of fishery has decreased in the past
years, which has made obtaining suitable food even more difficult and expensive.
To overcome these problems, it is necessary to close the full biological cycle in
captivity for obtaining subadults from hatcheries; furthermore, it also becomes crucial to work on a fodder design and manufacture to avoid the dependence on fishing,
aiming to improve the survival and growth of the individuals being cultured.
Otherwise, García García et al. (2004b) calculated a production cost of 7.05 € kg
−1
in an intensive exploitation of land-based tanks, with an annual production of 100 t
and commercial size average of 3.5 kg (size T2). When updated to 2011, it would
result an average cost of 8.97 € kg
−1
. The high feeding cost in Table 9.2 is due to
fattening the subadults from an initial weight of 500 g to a final average weight of
3,500 g; hence, the feeding cost is noticeably higher than in the previous case. In
the same way, it estimates an initial low weight and consistently the subadult cost
is relatively lower. The average price of size T2 in recent years is 8.40 € kg
−1
, much
higher (7.60 € kg
−1
) than the one considered in García García et al. (2004b). The
production cost in land-based tanks is noticeably higher than the values obtained by
García García and García García (2011) in open sea cages for the same size (T2),
which amounted to 6.61 € kg
−1
. This difference is mainly due to the energy required
for pumping and the necessary maintenance of land-based facilities.
The most recent work on octopus fattening in cages at open sea (García García
and García García 2011) provides an economic analysis of profitability in the Mediterranean using offshore systems. From an economic point of view, the suitability
after completing two ongrowing cycles is analysed. The exploitation was set up to
carry out the ongrowing in open sea cages, with a capacity of 30,000 individuals
by cycle, which corresponds to 150 cages. They used the cage described in García
García et al. (2009) in the Mediterranean. Table 9.2 shows the relevant results of the
two ongrowing cycles compared with the two previous works. The items with highest costs, and therefore those with the greatest economic importance, are in order of
magnitude the feeding, fixed assets, subadults and labour costs. When comparing
the aforementioned costs to those of fish fattening in cages, the cost of subadults has
a relatively minor importance in the latter, fundamentally due to the development of