Tilapia genetic management at the farming level

Renata Melon Barroso*, Ruy Albuquerque Tenório, Daniel Chaves Webber  and Andrea Pizarro Munoz
 
Embrapa Fisheries and Aquaculture
Quadra 104 Sul Avenida LO 1 N 34 Conjunto 4
77.020-122  Palmas/TO, Brazil
Renata.barroso@embrapa.br

With a production of 198,490 ton in 2014, tilapia represents 42% of the total fish farmed in Brazil, strongly impacting the social and economic regional development, contributing to generate income and improving food security. To ensure that Brazilian tilapia can grow even more, with technical, economic, social and environmental sustainability, it is necessary to understand the strategies to be explored by different actors and agents of the related value chain.

The success of tilapia production in Brazil is reflected in the high demand for seeds in the country.Currently, the estimated annual production is about 400 million tilapia fingerlings. Brazil hosts different species of tilapia, but tilapia farming in the country is based on the GIFT and Chitralada strains of Oreochromis niloticus, Linnaeus 1757. Most of the genetic improvement programs from these strains are going on in Southern states. However, the sector demands seeds adapted to different climate and culture system, as well as a consolidated management of these programs in the country.

As the demand for seeds is bigger than its supply, farmers buy seeds from more than one supplier, most of the time with different quality. Besides, farmers are not aware about which technical management can help the improved

strain reach its better performance. As a result, much of the tilapia farming in Brazil is a genetic mix that hinders the performance analyzes associated to the strains. We conclude that tilapia sector must improve its organization to set basic managements for better utilization of the species.