Small-scale fishers’ catch production in Taiwanese coastal areas

The catch production of small-scale fishers has a considerable impact on the fishery household economy in Taiwanese coastal areas via the aspects of household income and consumption expenditure. This study documents the characteristics of small-scale fishers’ catch production in Taiwanese coastal areas using survey data of fishery households in Changhua County, Taiwan. Regression analyses with cross-sectional data are conducted by the estimation of the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results suggest that the catch production of small-scale fishers in Changhua County is labor intensive and the production process has decreasing return to scale. This implies the government’s decommissioning policies could restore the allocative efficiency of offshore and coastal fisheries. Further, the total factor productivity is positively influenced by fishers’ age but is not influenced by their level of education. The policy implications of the findings are that strengthening fishers’ fishing knowledge and experience may improve the fishery household economy and the welfare of Taiwanese coastal communities. In sum, given the depletion of existing fishery resources, the focus should be on the expansion of output value rather than the output itself to improve the welfare of fishery communities.