Capacity and scale inefficiency: Application of data envelopment analysis in the case of the french seaweed fleet

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models are applied to the main French seaweed fleet to examine capacity output, capacity utilization, and scale inefficiency. Coastal seaweed vessels target only one output - kelp - with the same gear but with different input level combinations. The fishery is seasonal and subject mainly to input regulations, especially a one trip per day regulation implemented in 1987. The consequence was a decline in total observed output and a fall in capacity output and efficient output. Only the largest vessels and a few small vessels harvesting without this regulatory constraint operate at the optimal scale. The question of a change in regulation, especially a shift to an individual quota system, is raised