Technical Efficiency of Municipal Fisherfolk in Maasim, Saranggani Province, Philippines: A Stochastic Frontier and Data Envelopment Approach

This study assessed the level of technical efficiency of municipal fisherfolk in Maasim, Saranggani Province, Philippines. Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 284 small-scale fishers in the area. The primary data on tuna landings per trip, effort days per trip, crew size, fishing ground distance, engine horsepower and operating cost per trip were analysed using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Results of the study show that the average technical efficiency of Maasim fisherfolk using the said approaches were0.57 and 0.43, respectively. Using Tobit regression, hypothesised factors affecting technical efficiency of these fishers such as their socio-demographic profiles, attributes of the vessels and factors associated with fishing operations were considered. Among these determinants, the technical efficiency model indicated that age of the boat, engine horsepower, crew size, effort days, fishing ground distance and choice of unloading port were found to affect the technical efficiency of Maasim fishers.