FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY DETERMINANTS OF FISH FARMS IN BANGLADESH

Financial performance gives insight into key indicators of the financial health of the fish farms. Therefore, the study focused on financial performance and factors affecting productivity of pangas and tilapia fish farms in Bangladesh. Based on random selection, 636 fish farms consisting of 323 pangas and 313 tilapia were chosen from seven districts and interviewed directly. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate the financial performance of the farms. In addition, a Cobb-Douglas type production function was used to determine the effect of factors on productivity of the pangas and tilapia farms. The study revealed that the pangas and tilapia farms were commercially profitable as the BCR is higher than unity. The break-even production and sale value ensure that both farms were profitable. The study also revealed positive net worth for both of the fish farms, which implies that the farmers are able to cover their current liabilities. The current ratio was >1 and positive working capital ensured the liquidity of farms. Besides, higher equity to asset ratio, lower debt to asset ratio, and lower debt to equity ratio indicates the better solvency of the farms. Conversely, higher debt structure ratio for both pangas and tilapia indicated the shortage of long-term debt. Furthermore, the study showed the significant positive relationship of fingerling quantity, feed cost, and water cleaning cost with productivity while debt structure ratio had negative relation to the productivity. Therefore, the study suggests providing long-term debt more for improving the financial performance of pangas and tilapia fish farms