Custos operacionais de captura da frota camaroeira do litoral norte do Estado de São Paulo: análise comparada entre valores de mercado e valores de cooperados

Abstract

The seabob shrimp (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri) fishery is very important at the northern coast of São Paulo State as a source of incomes and jobs. In addition, this activity also provides stable trade for this product. The present study evaluated the Total Operating Cost (TOC) for three groups of vessels engaged in this fishery (G1, G2 and G3) depending on their physical characteristics (vessel length, gross tonnage and engine power), with G1 including the largest vessels with the most powerful engines, and, in contrast, G3 with the smallest gross tonnage vessels and G2, an intermediate group between these two. The results indicate that fuel (diesel) represents the highest source of costs for all groups. Under the schemes of cooperative or market value a small difference was found in the profits among the three groups of boats not showing direct economic benefits that would encourage permanent cooperative engagement. However, the adhesion of fisher to cooperatives occurs due to strong ties between them and can provide security as regarding marketing and preservation of the catches.