Economic Efficiency Estimate of Captured Fisheries from Plateau State, Nigeria: a Case on Pandam Lake fisheries innovation techniques

Abstract

This paper examines the productivity of captured fishery in Plateau state, with a view to examine the economics and sustainability of inland water fisheries innovation as renewable resource in the country. Daily fishing observations for 8 weeks and data collected through questionnaire from the 30 licensed fishers, using a purposive sampling technique was analysed by descriptive statistics, net farm income and stochastic frontier production and cost function models. The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of the fishers were 0.91, 0.68 and 0.72 respectively. The fishing harvest rate indicates decreasing return to scale of 0.728, showing fishers were operating at stage II.  Socioeconomics characteristics such as extension contact, age and educational status significantly explain technical efficiency and allocative efficiency.  Transformation for effective and sustainable fisheries exploitation will need the involvement of educated fishers, extension education, and constraining of fishing gear at the fishery.

Keywords: fisheries, technical, efficiency, inefficiency, frontier, stochastic, renewable, innovation.