Fishmeal Supplier Evaluation and Selection for Aquaculture Enterprise Sustainability with a Fuzzy MCDM Approach

In the aquaculture industry, feed that is of poor quality or nutritionally imbalanced can cause problems including low weight, poor growth, poor palatability, and increased mortality, all of which can induce a decrease in aquaculture production. Fishmeal is considered a better source of protein and its addition as an ingredient in the aquafeed makes aquatic animals grow fast and healthy. This means that fishmeal is the most important feed ingredient in aquafeed for the aquaculture industry. For the aquaculture industry in Taiwan, about 144,000 ton/USD $203,245,000 of fishmeal was imported, mostly from Peru, in 2016. Therefore, the evaluation and selection of fishmeal suppliers is a very important part of the decision-making process for a Taiwanese aquaculture enterprise. This study constructed a multiple criteria decision-making evaluation model for the selection of fishmeal suppliers using the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) approach based on the weights obtained with the entropy method in a fuzzy decision-making environment. This hybrid approach could effectively and conveniently measure the comprehensive performance of the main Peruvian fishmeal suppliers for practical applications. In addition, the results and processes described herein function as a good reference for an aquaculture enterprise in making decisions when purchasing fishmeal.