Bioeconomic simulator for economic and financial calculations for management support of tilapia finishing fish farms

Abstract

Abstract Owing to the importance gained by the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in recent years, it is necessary to use tools for the control and management of finishing fish farms. The work was conducted with the objective of developing a bioeconomic simulator for use as a tool to assist finishing fish farms and support the management decisions taken. One tool was developed through the combination of spreadsheets that align the centers of technical and economic control, making it possible to obtain economic and financial results by filling in data (inputs), which is real or can be simulated. The spreadsheets are interconnected, and after the data are inserted, the results are automatically generated. Data from its performance indicators and technicians were used for the creation of four scenarios: Monophase x Nursery (MonoN), Monophase x Cage (MonoC), Multiphase x Nursery (MultiN), and Multiphase x Cage (MultiC). The MultiC system had the highest revenue (US$288,996.16) and net income (US$72,563.52), resulting in a better use of resources, with high density, reaching productivity of 283.41 kg/m³. In the financial evaluation, all systems were acceptable to investors, with MultiC presenting the best results, with an Internal Rate of Return of 20.41% and a six-year payback. The simulator was able to carry out the calculations and present results close to those found in the finishing fish farms, being able to be used with other combinations of data. The simulator proved to be an efficient and easy-to-use tool, providing several automatic analyses aimed at assisting producers and researchers.