An analysis of purse seine fleet economics under COVID 19 PNA

PNA Office - Project Dates:
August 2020 - December 2020

Description of Project:
Poseidon undertook an assessment of purse seine fleet economics - catch, effort, prices and costs during the period of COVID 19 as compared tp previous years.

The results showed:

Average fuel prices per vessel, which traditionally accounted for 47% of total costs, are down by 39% from an average US$ 2.04 million (2019) to US$ 1.29 million. They have dropped from 30% to 20% of the vessel sales revenues.

Effort is up by 8.5% on last year from an average 167 days per vessel to 179 days , but with corresponding lower CPUEs, such that overall average revenue is 6% lower than the preceding year.

Projected skipjack prices are up marginally (2%) at US$ 1,423/MT from the previous year, and, based on previous annual trends, are projected to remain at above US$ 1,500/MT for the rest of the year, which is expected to at least sustain income levels.

Global fuel prices are expected to remain at current levels until the year end(https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/articles/3/).

The take home message is that most rents remain above the defacto DWFN benchmark of US$ 10,000/day, with around 30 vessels (13%) generating rents below US$ 10,000/day.