TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROFESSIONAL UNIT FOR MARINE FISH CAPTURED IN THE COSTA VERDE REGION, SOUTH COAST OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL.
Keywords: Artisanal fishing, Cost analysis, Production cost and Operational viability.
Artisanal fishing is of great importance for food production, contributing about half of the volume of world fish production and providing an excellent source of animal protein to millions of people. In the Costa Verde Region, its relevance is even greater, since the municipalities that comprise it present a large part of their production from this fishing, being a source of income for many families that survive from this activity. However, artisanal fishermen are able to market only the species with the highest economic value. Thus, at the time of capture, it discards those that do not give the due financial return, wasting a source of animal protein with high biological value, as well as an important source of income. Based on this demand, a technical and economic feasibility study was proposed for the implementation of a Marine Fish Processing Unit for the Costa Verde region. In this one, a layout for the Processing Unit was elaborated; the possible market for the benefited products was raised. The economic feasibility study of the project was simulated from data related to the processing of croaker in the production of fillets, which allowed to verify the feasibility of the enterprise when analyzing the variables NPV, IRR and simple Payback. The sensitivity study pointed out that the variation in the price of raw material produces an unfavorable scenario for the implementation of the Processing Unit. However, in the processing of croaker from the production of Mechanically Separated Meat (CMS) with the spine resulting from filleting, even in an unfavorable scenario, the economic viability of the enterprise can be promoted when, from this technique, value is added. to a product that would be discarded. The results achieved point to an economic viability in the processing of marine species since they could reach even lower values for acquisition. However, the commercialization of species that are currently discarded may increase the demand for them, thus, studies are suggested that can assess the ecological impacts that this new demand can cause.