Fishing power is often used by fisheries biologists to describe
what economists refer to as productivity. In traditional land based
industries, the measurement of productivity and productivity
change is important for understanding the economic condition of
firms, industries, and sectors of an economy. Productivity change is
often used as a reason for differences in the condition of national
economies and is a key economic indicator. Productivity is an
important driver of both economic growth, and firm profitability
[1], and there is an extensive literature on the subject.
Productivity measures the relationship between the quantity of
outputs produced and the quantity of inputs used to produce
those outputs. Simply put, productivity¼Y/X, where Y is the
quantity of output and X is the quantity of input. Productivity is
the quantity component of firm profits, and if a firm can increase
the quantity of output (Y) using a given quantity of input (X),
(ceteris paribus), the firm can increase its profit. Firms may also
increase profitability through higher output prices, lower input
prices, or some combination of increased productivity and price
changes [2]. Although productivity may be explained in terms of
an individual firm, this same concept can be used to explain productivity
at the industry, sector of the economy, or national level.
That is, productivity is the ratio of output(s) produced to input