Position of Tilapia Among Primary Farmed Fish and

Aquaculture Technical Difficulties

Kevin Fitzsimmons, Ph.D.University of Arizona, Professor of Environmental Science

World Aquaculture Society, Past-President

Aquaculture without Frontiers, Past-Chairman

American Tilapia Association, Sec. Tres.

9 th International Forum on Tilapia

HaiKou, HaiNan

November 2012

Tilapia: continuing to increase in popularity globaly

• Tilapias are second only to the carps as a farmed food fish.

• But tilapia have unique characteristics that will facilitate its continued growth to someday surpass carp production.

Tilapia• Model for how aquaculture industry should develop• Global demand, variety of production systems and

geographic regions, some vertically integrated• Environmentally sustainable – “Green Aquaculture”

(no fish meal required in the diet, no antibiotics, many farms use effluents for crops)

Subsistence and Export Commodity• Tilapia is unique in its role as a small livestock

animal grown by subsistence farmers in developing countries around the world…..

• And• It is widely grown and exported to high value

markets to be served in expensive restaurants and grocery stores

• Commodity or specialty crop - BOTH, like chicken

Tilapia: the most important

aquaculture species of the 21st century

Feb 2000ISTA 5

Global production of some major farmed fishes

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

1980 1990 2000 2008 2010 2011 2012

Tilapia

Catfish

Salmon

Global production of some major farmed fishes including carp

Top Ten Seafoods (U.S.)per capita (lbs)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

T una 3 Shr imp 3 Shr imp 3.7 Shr imp 4.0 Shr imp 4.2 Shr imp 4.1 Shr imp 4.4 Shr imp 4.1 Shrimp 4 Shrimp 4.1 Shrimp 4.0 Shrimp 4.2

Shr imp 3.2 T una 2.9 T una 3.1 T una 3.4 T una 3.4 T una 3.1 T una 2.9 T una 2.7 Tuna 2.8 Tuna 2.5 Tuna 2.7 Tuna 2.6

P ol lock 1.6 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.2 Salmon 2.2 Salmon 2.4 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.4 Salmon 1.8 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.0

Salmon 1.5 P ol lock 1.2 P ol lock 1.1 P ol lock 1.7 P ol lock 1.7 P ol lock 1.5 P ol lock 1.6 P ol lock 1.7 Pollock 1.34 Pollock 1.45 Tilapia 1.45 Pollock 1.3

Catfi sh 1.1 Catfi sh 1.1 Catfi sh 1.1 Catfi sh 1.1 Catfi sh 1.1 Catfi sh 1.0 T i l api a 1. 0T i l api a 1. 14Tilapia 1.19 Tilapia 1.21 P ollock 1.2 Tilapia 1.3

Cod 0.8 Cod 0.6 Cod 0.7 Cod 0.6 T i lapia 0.7 T i lapia 0.8 Catfi sh 0.97 Catfi sh 0.90 Catfish 0.92 Catfish 0.85 Catfish 0.8 Pangasius 0.6

Clams 0.5 Clams 0.5 Cr abs 0.6 Cr abs 0.6 Cod 0.6 Cr abs 0.6 Cr abs 0.7 Cr abs 0.68 Crabs 0.61 Crabs 0.59 Crabs 0.6 Catfish 0.6

Cr abs 0.4 Cr abs 0.4 Clams 0.5 T i lapia 0.5 Cr abs 0.6 Cod 0.6 Cod 0.5 Cod 0.47 Cod 0.44 Cod 0.42 Cod 0.5 Crabs 0.5

Flatfi sh 0.4 Flatfi sh 0.4 T i lapia 0.4 Clams 0.5 Clams 0.5 Clams 0.4 Clams 0.4 Clams 0.45 Flatfish 0.43 Clams 0.41 P angasius 0.4 Cod 0.5

Scal lops 0.3 T i lapia 0.4 Flatfi sh 0.3 Scal lops 0.3 Scal lops 0.3 Scal lops 0.3 Scal lops 0.3 Flatfi sh 0.32 Clams 0.42 Pangasius 0.35 Clams 0.35 Clams 0.3

T i lapia 0.3

Percentage of US finfish grocery salesFeb. 2010

Salmon

TILAPIA

Catfish

Other fish

Cod

Haddock

Tuna

Flounder

Halibut

Swordfish

Trout

Technical Difficulties

Improved genetics and seed Improved nutrition and feed quality Reducing problems with off-flavor Reducing environmental impacts of

aquaculture

Improved Genetics and Seed

Farmer need higher quality seed Requires improved breeding programs More high quality hatcheries More all male fish Need to utilize most advanced genetic tools

Selective breeding and genetic improvements

• Excellent breeding programs - G.I.F.T. - Malaysia- G.I.F.T., Shanghai, and private - China- Genomar - Brazil and Norway- Chitralada – Thailand- TabTim – Thailand (CP Group)- GIFT Excell – Philippines- Molobicus - Philippines- GIFT Bangladesh

• YY Supermale - Philippines and Swansea, Egypt and Indonesia

Genetic improvements in tilapia

(From: Mair, G., 2002)

Tilapia Genome Project

• March 2011 - First assembly of the tilapia genome• Oreochromis niloticus – Nile Tilapia• http://www.broadinstitute.org/ftp/pub/assemblies/fish/

tilapia/Orenil1/• Matching many segments to those known from other

fish• Publically available and freely accessible• Next frontier of genetic program for tilapia

The YY male technology

(GMT®)

Improved Nutrition and Feed Quality

Farmers want high quality feeds at lowest cost Feed mills want additional effective ingredients Environmental groups want minimum fish

meal and fish oils

Farmers want high quality feeds at lowest cost

Farmers should select feed based on quality, cost and service

Researchers should work with mills to test new ingredients

Vendors should compete to offer new and improved ingredients.

Feed mills want additional effective ingredients

New ingredients: Camelina, dried distillers grains, hydrolized feather meal, new soy products

Alltech, OlMix, Novus, Uni-President, etc. Improved extruder and pelleting technologies

Ingredient vendors

From: Ramon Kourie, 2011

From: Ramon Kourie, 2011

From: Ramon Kourie, 2011

From: Ramon Kourie, 2011

Reducing Environmental Effects: Integrated Farming Systems

Tilapia and citrus in HaiNan, China

• Tilapia Grapes, wheat, olives, barley, sorghum, cotton, melons, peppersReuse of effluents to irrigate crops Safford, AZ Marana, AZ

Desert Springs Tilapia, Hyder AZ

Tilapia-shrimp-halophytes Eritrea

Shrimp and tilapia ponds

Mangroves

Salicornia

Salicornia

Mangroves

Polyculture Indonesia

Stocking and harvest schedule

nTilapia – shrimp – seaweed polyculture in Indonesia

Gracilaria

Shrimp

Tilapia

Pathways in the use of tilapia as biomanipulator in shrimp farms

Promotion of Chlorella

dominance

Feeding on organic waste

Bioturbation of sediment

Production of natural

antimicrobials

IMPROVED SEDIMENT QUALITY

IMPROVED WATER

QUALITY

SUPRESSION OF GROWTH OF V. harveyi

Conclusions

• Tilapia has long been called the aquatic chicken.

• Instead…...

• The “terrestrial tilapia”

Buy TILAPIA

Thank you!

Questions?