Tilapia supply lands in cold water

The global supply of Tilapia, a popular fish in the global seafood market, was down 13 per cent during 2008 to 2.6 million tonne. This was primarily caused by the extremely cold winter during early 2008 in China, wiping out whole production areas. This led to an increase in the price of Tilapia. At the same time, production in other major countries remained almost the same or slightly higher. The forecast indicates normal production in China this year and some level of softening of prices.

Tilapia is finally becoming an attractive fish product in Europe, after years of reluctance by major importers. Lower export taxes prompted Metro Group to source 4,000 tonnes of Tilapia fillets from China.

Spain is also starting to look for Tilapia supplies. A major Spanish company is conducting studies on the potential for Tilapia production in Mozambique and Namibia. The same company owns a huge production plant in Brazil, with a capacity to produce 10,000 tonnes of Tilapia a year.

Two different organisations — the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) — are about to finalise guidelines for Tilapia farm certification. The Global Aquaculture Alliance has completed Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards for Tilapia. The BAP standards and guidelines for such farms, share many points with the BAP standards for other cultured species. These apply to cage and net pen farming as well as pond culture. Whatever the system, farms must comply with regulations regarding the use of non-native species. WWF released a draft of Tilapia aquaculture standards in September 2008. WWF is seeking public comment on the sustainable farming standards, which were developed through the group’s Tilapia dialogue process over the last three years.

Meanwhile, the US tilapia market was overshadowed by the problems experienced by China last year . Total imports of tilapia during the first nine months of the year were 128,100 tonnes, some 1 000 tonnes less than in the same period of 2007.