TILAPIA AQUACULTURE 2016 AND WHERE WILL WE BE IN 2026

Fitzsimmons, K.*
University of Arizona
2601 E. Airport Drive
Tucson, Arizona, 85756
kevfitz@ag.arizona.edu

Tilapia aquaculture in 2016 has become the second largest (by weight) farmed fish crop after the carps.   The several closely related tilapias are farmed in over 100 countries with the widest distribution of any farmed seafood (have even been raised in space on the International Space Station).  Indonesia in particular has reported large increases in production in recent years.   China continues to be the biggest producer.   Other locations of rapidly increasing production include Haiti, Myanmar (Burma) and Pakistan.  In 2014 and 2015 we saw additional expansion with more farms and more productivity in Bangladesh, Mexico, Egypt, and Brasil.  With recent production figures reported by various sources, our global production estimate for 2015 is 5,576,800 mt.  China continued its position as the single largest producer (1,800,000 mt in 2015). China's exports to the US slowed in 2015, but increased significantly to sub-Saharan Africa and to the Middle Eastern Gulf States.  Indonesia moved up to the second biggest producer with over 1,100,000 mt of production.   Egypt dropped to the third biggest producer of tilapia in the world, even while increasing production to 800,000 mt in 2015.  Indonesia's exports did not increase that much but domestic demand grew significantly.  VietNam increased its production significantly (150,000 mt), much of the growth based on a mix of cage culture, pond production and polyculture systems with marine shrimp to reduce virulence of the AHPNS, White Spot and various parasites.  The ban of American and European seafoods into Russia, led to an increase of exports of tilapia and Pangasius from Vietnam to Russia.  Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines consumed virtually all the tilapia grown in their countries.

Over the next 10 years, we anticipate that tilapia industry growth rates will continue unabated for several reasons.  First, the tilapia processors have led the entire aquaculture industry with the variety of value added products. Second, ease of hybridization of tilapias provides a broad genetic base for traditional selective breeding and description of the genome gives breeders a strong tool for guiding pedigreed reproduction.  Third, polycultures with many other aquaculture species is driving integration and greater sustainability in fresh, brackish and marine waters.