Abstract Sea bass (Lates calcarifer) is a key aquaculture species in Malaysia, produced as part of a polyculture system in cages but predominantly as a single species in ponds. The production of sea bass in Malaysia has decreased substantially since 2015. Several studies suggest disease may be the main cause for such decline, but changing economic conditions may also have played a role in this decline. In this paper, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to examine these issues as well as identify the key drivers of efficiency and capacity utilization in the grow-out finfish industry. Our results suggest that most farms are technically efficient, but many are operating at lower levels of capacity utilization. Socio-demographic factors appear to affect pond production but less so cage production. The results suggest that the reduced output of sea bass is largely in response to changed economic conditions (output and input prices).

中文翻译：

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马来西亚半岛鲈鱼养成养殖的生产效率和产能利用率

摘要 鲈鱼（Lates calcarifer）是马来西亚的主要水产养殖品种，作为网箱混养系统的一部分生产，但主要作为池塘中的单一品种。自 2015 年以来，马来西亚的鲈鱼产量大幅下降。 几项研究表明，疾病可能是造成这种下降的主要原因，但不断变化的经济状况也可能在这种下降中发挥了作用。在本文中，我们使用数据包络分析 (DEA) 来检查这些问题，并确定养成鱼类行业效率和产能利用率的关键驱动因素。我们的结果表明，大多数农场在技术上是有效的，但许多农场的产能利用率较低。社会人口因素似乎影响池塘生产，但影响网箱生产的影响较小。