TILAPIA CULTURE
Water Temperatures for:
Tilapia are native to Africa, Israel and Jordan
Best growth- above 770FSpawning - above 680F
Death- 50 to 540F
Nile Tilapia Mozambique Tilapia
Blue Tilapia Red Tilapia
Popular Cultured TilapiasPopular Cultured Tilapias
Food HabitsTilapia feed low on the food chain
phytoplankton
zooplankton
Tilapia can be cultured in fresh and salt water. 1. All tilapia can be grown in fresh water.
2. Mozambique tilapia and red tilapia with Mozambique tilapia genes can be grown in salt water.
Males dig and defend a nest
Reproduction
and defend the fry
Females incubate eggs
Tilapia can be spawned in:
1. ponds
2. cages
3. tanks
Fry can be harvested:
2. 40 days after hatch
1. 18 days after hatch
Fry can be:1. Partial harvested
2. Completely harvested
Brooder removal Fry removal
Eggs can be removed from females:
Incubating tilapia eggs
Yolk-sac tilapia fry
Tilapia can be cultured as:
1. Mixed sexes - males and females together
2. Mono-sex - only males
Advantages: 1. Technically easy
Disadvantages: 1. Small harvest weight 2. Mixed sizes at harvest
Grow-out:
Mixed-sex Culture
Advantages: 1. Large harvest weight 2. Uniform size at harvest
Disadvantages: 1. Technically difficult
Mono-sex culture
Stocking a predacious fish with mixed-sex tilapia will control tilapia density andincrease final harvest weight.
Largemouth bass in the U. S. A.
Peacock bass inSouth America
Mono-sex male tilapia populations can be produced by:
1. Visual selection
2. Hybridization
3. Sex-reversal
4. Genetic manipulation
Male Populations
Visual Selection of the Genital Papilla
Male papilla
Female papilla withoviduct
anus
anus
Hybridization
Male Hornorum tilapia
Female Nile tilapia
All-male hybrid tilapia
Sex Reversal of Tilapia Fry
Genetic Manipulation
1) XXF + XYM
estrogen
XXF + XY”F”
2) XY”F” x XYM
XXF + 2 XYM + YYM
3) XXF x YYM
100% XYM
Tilapia are raised in: Small earthen ponds
Tilapia are raised in:
Large Earthen Ponds
Tilapia Raised In Floating Cages
Tilapia are raised in:Circular tanks with partial water exchange and mechanical aeration
Tilapia are raised in:Raceways with constant water exchange
Tilapia are raised in:Indoors with water reuse, mechanical aeration and oxygen injection
Tilapia ponds can be fertilized with organic and inorganic fertilizers to increase yield
Tilapia can be fed to increase yield
Tilapia can be fed
Agricultural by-productssinking
floating
cottonseed mealwheat bran
rice bran
Pelleted diets
Tilapia can be sold to
Neighbors and
Friends
Tilapia can be purchasedAt supermarkets and fish shops
whole on ice
fresh and frozen fillets
China
Egypt
Philippines
Mexico
Thailand
Taiwan
Brasil
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
Vietnam
Costa RicaHonduras Malaysia United States
Saudi Arabia
Others
World Tilapia Production of 2,920,941 mt in 2008
Global tilapia aquaculture exceeds salmon in 2009
Tilapia (June 2007, Tesco, UK)
• $8 US per lb whole fish!!!!
• Imports in 2008 were $696,085,981
• US production of 20,000,000 lbs at farm
• 2009 US tilapia farm-gate sales over
$55,000,000
• 2009 US Tilapia Sales estimate –
$696,085,981 + $55,000,000 =
$751,085,981
US Sales of tilapia
Tilapia farming in the U. S.1. Most production is from enclosed, water reuse system
because of cold winter water temperatures.
2. Production costs are high.
3. Most tilapia are sold live or whole iced.
4. Presently, U. S. producers can’t compete with producers in tropical climates for processed tilapia.
5. Fresh fillets are imported from Central and South America.
6. Frozen fillets are imported from Asia.
Advantages of Farming Tilapia
1. Feeds low on the food chain
2. Accepts wide range of feeds
3. Resistant to poor water quality, disease and handling
4. Good flesh quality
5. Fingerlings easy to produce year round
Disadvantages of raising tilapia
1. Reach sexual maturity at a young age
2. Males grow faster than females
3. Difficult to harvest from earthen ponds with a seine
4. Low percentage of fillet removed from body
Over 3.1 billion pounds of farmed tilapia are harvest world-wide yearly.
Major producers are:China > Philippines > Thailand
U. S. tilapia Production in 2000: 18,191,000 lbs
New product forms
Smoked tilapia
Sashimi grade tilapia
Tilapia and food service
• On almost all cruise ships
• Starting to appear on airlines
• Increasingly with schools, hospitals and prisons
• Several prisons have their own tilapia farms
Courtesy: Eric Roderick
Byproducts - Tilapia Leather
Tilapia Orange Juice
Tilapia pedicures
EAT MORE TILAPIA