prospectandpotentialforglobalproduction;worldmarkets.docVIP

Prospect and Potential for Global Production; World Markets for Tilapia: Production and Outlooks Kevin Fitzsimmons University of Arizona 2601 E. Airport Drive Tucson, AZ 85706  INTRODUCTION During the 1990s, international trade in tilapia products became an important commodity in the international seafood trade. Tilapia farming encompasses an industry based on fish introduced around the world by development agencies to feed the rural poor that now has grown to a highly domesticated livestock product with sales exceeding two billion dollars a year. The description of the tilapia as the aquatic chicken, becomes more appropriate every day. As in chicken farming, tilapia farming can be successful on any scale, from subsistence farmers with a few essentially feral fish in a pond, to multi-national corporations rearing highly domesticated fish with farms and processing plants in several countries. Tilapia have been domesticated faster and to a greater extent than any other group of fish. Tilapia may have surpassed salmonids in economic importance by 2003 and may eventually equal the carps. World production of farmed tilapia exceeded 1,491,232 metric tons (mt) in 2002 (Fig. 1). China is the world’s major producer and consumer of tilapia. Mainland province’s production in 2002 was 706,000 mt and Taiwan produced another 90,000 mt. Other Asian countries produced an additional 325,000 mt. The US is the world’s major importer of tilapia. 2002 imports were 56,337 mt with an import value of $174,000,000. The products were divided between frozen whole fish, frozen fillets and fresh fillets. These products represent a live weight of 133,140 mt. Linked with 2002 domestic production of 9,000 mt, sets the 2002 US consumption of live weight fish at 142,140 mt or 314 million pounds. Tilapia have already become one of the most important farm raised fishes and is increasingly taking its place as a major item in the international seafood trade. Humans living in the