Efficiency Analysis of China Deep-Sea Cage Aquaculture Based on the SBM–Malmquist Model

Abstract

Deep-sea cage aquaculture (DSCA) is an important way to expand new space for marine aquaculture, promote the transformation and upgrade of the fishery industry, and optimize the structure of marine aquaculture. Using the panel data of DSCA in China’s coastal areas from 2013 to 2021, this study constructs the SBM–Malmquist model to measure the DSCA production efficiency and analyzes its total factor productivity. The results show that the overall DSCA production efficiency exhibited an increasing trend in spite of a sharp decline in 2019. The efficiency exhibited regional differences, being the strongest in the Bohai Sea region, followed by in the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea regions. The overall total factor productivity remained generally stable, although a large fluctuation occurred between 2019 and 2021. Both pure technological efficiency and scale efficiency promoted the total factor productivity in 2019–2021, while the efficiency of technological changes in societal aspects declined. This study shows that the DSCA production efficiency is significantly influenced by input factors such as labor and capital investment. In addition, natural disasters inhibit the improvement of the production efficiency to some extent.