Optimal Feeding Schedules and Harvesting Time in Aquaculture

This paper considers the interdependent questions of what feeding schedule to adopt and when to harvest in aquaculture. Profit maximizing feeding schedules and harvesting times are derived under different specifications of the biomass growth function. While few generally valid restrictions on the shape of profit maximizing feeding schedules appear to be available, an important result of the analysis is that provided the rate of discount is positive marginal revenue of feeding must exceed marginal cost except at harvesting time when the two are equal. The problem of selecting the optimal feeding schedule in aquaculture exemplifies a much wider class of production problems characterized by the requirement that inputs have to be supplied some time before outputs are obtained. It follows that many of the general results derived in the paper are applicable to this more general class of production problems.