A decison aid for coordinating fishing and fish processing

Production planning in the fishing industry depends on raw material supply. The uncertainty and randomness in the raw material supply requires frequent decisions on production plans for product mix, labor requirements, and raw material inventory carried from one period to the next. A decision aid for coordinating fishing (trawler operations on the sea) and fish processing at on-shore plants is described. The system combines a simulation model with a linear programming (LP) optimization model. The simulation model analyzes trawler operations, including catch generation, length of fishing trips, and trawler landings. The LP model uses the output from the simulation model to determine labor requirements, inventory levels, and production levels to maximize net revenues. The research shows that integration of heuristic and optimization models can be used as an effective decision aid in production planning.