The Actual Determinant of Fish Production in Libya (applied Study)

Abstract

The study has depended on data analysis that were gathered from field work data on production, and on the descriptive and quantitative analysis of the study community, which is a sample of catching boats that extend along the Libyan coast consisting of 123 catching boats, in addition to the analysis of fish production status quo in AL-Jamahiriya. The field study has also depended on the descriptive study of a sample taken from fish marketing routes. The study has depended on the consumption aspect of a sample of 718 households delivered on 7 main cities in the whole Jamahiriya. The descriptive and quantitative methods were used which included statistical models to measure different variables in connection with the gross expenditure on fish in addition to the analysis of fish consumption status quo in Jamahiriya using the published data.

The results of the field study have showed that most of the labour in fish catching activity are foreigners and are unstable. This affects negatively on production stability, and that 60% of   the national elements are only investors and boat owners, and they are not fish catchers 42% of the Labour is a seasonal labour, 24% is a temporary labour, and 34% is permanent labour. The results of the quantitative statistical analysis have showed that the most important factors affecting the production amount in the whole study areas (the western , the middle , and the eastern regions of Libya) are the value of the operational costs, the type of the boat, the number of fish catchers, the number of fish catching journeys, and the journey hours. The results of the production function in the western region showed that the elasticity of production has reached 2.073 which reflects a relation of increasing returns to scale in this region . The results of the production function in the middle region have showed that the elasticity of  production has reached 1.454, which also reflects a relation of increasing returns to scale. The same results for the gross elasticity of  production in the eastern region also reflects a relation of increasing returns to sale which reached 1.126, while the total elasticity of  production was estimated to be 2.478 in all the three areas , which also reflects a relation of increasing returns to scale. It reflected the positive effects of the expansion in the resources used in fish production in all regions compared to the present level.