Tilapia Aquaculture – An Overview:
Harvest, Processing, Marketing in US and Mexico
Kevin Fitzsimmons
University of Arizona, Professor
World Aquaculture Society, Immediate Past-President
American Tilapia Association, Sec./Tres.
Pablo Gonzalez Alanis
Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Professor
World Aquaculture Society, Student Liaison
Program Coordinator, Aquaculture TIES
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
1ero Dec, 2005

Tilapia aquaculture
 Second most important farmed fish after the carps
 Most widely grown of any farmed fish
 In 2003 became the eighth most popular seafood in the US
 In 2004 moved up to sixth most popular seafood in the US

Pre-processing steps
 Hatchery and Growout
 Check for off-flavor
 Harvest techniques
 Depuration
 Transport to processor

Quality Control begins on the Farm
 Farmer must remember that many actions during growout can affect final product quality and marketing
 For example: some markets will not accept any hormone used on fish.
 So sex-reversed fish may not be sold to these customers

“Organic” markets have whole set of requirements

Important on-farm management issues affecting markets
 Sex-reversal (yes or no)
 Feed supply (lowest cost, highest quality, organic)
 Algae control to avoid off-flavor
 In salt water, control parasites that might scar skin or impact fillet
 Bird control (environmental issue, loss of stocks, vector for parasites and disease)

Decisions before harvest
 Who will buy the fish?
 Who will harvest the fish?
 Is flavor of fish acceptable?
 Testing by cooking fillet in paper bag in microwave oven. Trained taster needed.
 Will depuration be needed? (at farm or processing plant)
 How many days and who will test?
 Fish should be transported live to processing site!

Transport to processing plant
 Best to transport live
 May want to add salt to reduce stress and maintain quality

Processing steps
 Processing line
 Bleeding / chilling stage
 Scale removal
 Deheading
 Evisceration
 Fillet
 Skinning
 Trimming

Processing steps
 Processing line
 Hand cutting, machine cutting, or mix


Most plants use a mixture of machine and hand
Need to make these basic decisions before starting plant.





Decide when and how to kill fish. (Chill, electric shock, bleeding or cutting head)
Before or after bleeding.
Bleed better before chilling.
Stay more fresh with faster chilling
Some prefer to kill before bleeding

Processing steps
 Scale removal
 Most processors use rotating drum de-scalers
 Deheading
 Most use food grade band saw
 Some still cut by hand
 Handlers should use chain mail gloves

Evisceration, by hand or vacuum
 Hand evisceration – less investment, no equipment to malfunction or maintain
 Vacuum – less labor, waste is concentrated in collection tank, less mess on line

Removal of skin, by hand or machine

 Most plants use automated skinning
 Most markets are requiring deep skinning, leaving more flesh on the skin
Skinners

Removal of pin bones and trimming
 Fillets have small bones that must be removed for international markets
 Buyers are requesting better trim of margins of fillets for more consistent appearance

Treatments, value-addition and packaging
 Ozonated water baths
 Carbon dioxide and Liquid Smoke
 Freezing
 Packaging
 Multi-function machines
 By-products

Processing - bacterial testing
 Samples should be checked for bacterial contamination
 Follow HACCP procedures and EU guidelines
 Many plants are using ozone dips to reduce surface bacteria

Blow drying fillets
Application of either:
“liquid smoke” or some other kind of preservative.

Carbon monoxide
(also called liquid smoke)
 CO infuses into fillet and reacts with myoglobin
 Fillet maintains fresh appearance for longer period

Carbon monoxide
 Most plants in China appear to use carbon monoxide
 Some gas in chambers others infuse in bags before freezing

Individual bags for frozen fillets

Vacuum sealing

Many forms of packaging

IQF Fillets in re-sealable packages

New product forms
Sashimi grade tilapia
Smoked tilapia
Hickory Smoked

Review-Rapid advances in processing and quality assurance steps
 Depuration stage
 Bleeding step
 Deep skinning
 Additional trimming
 Ozone dips
 Improved packaging
 Value added product forms
 Faster delivery

Mexico - 100,000 - 110,000 mt
Tilapia-shrimp farm in Sonora
Pond Tilapia farm in Tamaulipas

1,000,000
900,000
800,000
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
World Tilapia Production of
2,002,087 mt in 2004

Mexican Consumption of Tilapia
 110,000,000 kg ≈ one kg/per capita/year

US consumption ≈ 0.3 kg/capita/year
 Most Mexican consumption is domestic, few imports from China

Tilapia production in Mexico
 Production in most states of Mexico
 Most production in southern states
 Veracruz has greatest production
 Intensive in north, lake ranching in south
 Repopulation of reservoirs
 Problem with FAO definition of aquaculture
 Tilapia-shrimp polyculture in seawater

Markets in Mexico
Raceway system
 Strong domestic markets; on ice, fillets in grocery stores
 All domestic consumption –
Exports are minimal.

Live markets in Mexico
 Live markets (≈ 30 pesos/kg)
 Established live markets in Guadalajara and
Mexico City
 Need to develop live markets in other cities
(Asians are first customers)
 May need to provide live tanks to retailers
(allows you to exclude competitors)

Fresh product markets in Mexico
 Regional and local markets (15-20 pesos/kg)
 Wide recognition across Mexico
 110,000 MT annual consumption
 Virtually zero exports, this is a prime opportunity

Frozen product markets in Mexico
 Strong markets (10-15 pesos/kg)
 Established channels for processing and distribution
 Problem with frozen imports from China
 Should be a temporary problem as costs rise in China and transportation costs increase
 (Of course future change in costs in China does not help tilapia farmer in Mexico today)

Global Tilapia Sales
 For year 2000
 US $ 1,706,538,200
(FAO Fisheries Circular No. 886)
 2005 sales >$ 3,000,000,000
 2010 sales >$ 5,000,000,000

Top Ten Seafoods (U.S.) per capita (lbs)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 (est)
Tuna 3.5 Shrimp 3.4 Shrimp 3.7 Shrimp 4.0
Shrimp 4.2
Shrimp 3.2 Tuna 2.9 Tuna 3.1 Tuna 3.4
Tuna 3.4
Pollock 1.6 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.2
Salmon 2.2
Salmon 1.5 Pollock 1.2 Pollock 1.1 Pollock 1.7
Pollock 1.7
Catfish 1.1 Catfish 1.1 Catfish 1.1Catfish 1.1
Cod 0.8 Cod 0.6 Cod 0.7 Cod 0.6
Catfish 1.1
Tilapia 0.7
Clams 0.5 Clams 0.5 Crabs 0.6 Crabs 0.6
Cod 0.6
Crabs 0.4 Crabs 0.4 Clams 0.5
Tilapia 0.54
Crabs 0.6
Flatfish 0.4 Flatfish 0.4
Tilapia 0.4
Clams 0.5
Clams 0.5
Scallops 0.3
Tilapia 0.35
Flatfish 0.3 Scallops 0.3
Scallops 0.3
Tilapia 0.28

US Tilapia Aquaculture
 9,200 mt per year (20,000,000 lbs)
 California is largest producer
 ID, NC, FL, TX, AZ, NY,PA, MA are also significant producers
 Virtually all tilapia in US for live sales
 Asian groceries and restaurants are primary market outlets

Nutritional quality contributes to popularity
 USDA has completed a complete highly technical nutritional analysis.
Now is preparing nutritional report on tilapia for the general public

New USDA “Pyramid” guidelines further support frequent fish consumption

Nutritional quality of tilapia contributes to popularity

Moderate in PUFA’s:
0.387 g/100g raw
0.600 g/100g cooked

Moderate omega 3 FA’s: 0.141 g/100g raw
0.220 g/100g cooked
Source – USDA- ARS Lab
 Low in mercury: Tilapia = 0.01 ppm
Shark = 0.99 ppm
Source FDA http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html

US market development
 The LAND opens at
EPCOT in 1983 – features tilapia culture and on menu in the Good Turn
Restaurant
 Farms in ID, CA, FL &
AZ begin sales to Asian stores and restaurants
 Farms in Colombia, Costa
Rica, Jamaica Taiwan, and
Indonesia begin imports

Market evolution in US
 Ethnic buyers (Asians, Latino &
African)
 Live markets
 Up-scale restaurants
 Casual dining
 Club stores and hypermarkets
 Local groceries

250,000
US Consumption of tilapia from domestic and imported sources
200,000
150,000
Domestic
Imports
100,000
50,000
0

US Tilapia consumption
412,148,000 lbs
(187,000 mt) of live weight-2003
504,716,000 lbs
(229,000 mt) of live weight 2004
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

19,480 mt fresh fillets, 36,160 mt frozen fillets,
57,2990 mt whole frozen (2004)
Tilapia product forms imported to the U.S.
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Whole Frozen
Fillet Frozen
Fillet Fresh

$174,215,165 (2002) $241,205,610 (2003) $297,413,000 (2004) $ 352,305,388 (est 2005)
2002
$200,000,000
$450,000,000
$180,000,000
$400,000,000
Whole Frozen
Fillet Frozen
Fillet Fresh
$0
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Whole Frozen
Whole Frozen
Fillet Frozen
Fillet Frozen
Fillet Fresh
Fillet Fresh

US Sales of tilapia
 Imports in 2004 were $297,413,261
 US production of $40,000,000 at farm
 2004 Total US tilapia sales were over
$337,000,000
 2005 Sales estimate –
$176,152,694
(Jan-June imports)
*2=
$352,305,388 + $40,000,000 =
$392,000,000

Current US Market Trends
 Increase in demand for all forms of tilapia
 Demand increase will be greatest for fresh fillets
 Demand increase will be smallest for live tilapia

Tilapia the “Green” farmed fish
 Herbivore / omnivore, low trophic level feeder
 Algae, bacteria, and detritus are important food sources
 Prepared feeds are mostly grains and ag byproducts
 Can be reared in high densities, with low water exchange
 Disease resistant and tolerant of poor water quality. Anti-biotics and chemicals are rarely used.

The “environmental” fish

Promoted by aid agencies and NGO’s
 Dr. M. Gupta wins World Food Prize for promotion of tilapia aquaculture, June 10, 2005
 Does not prey on other species
 Often used in integrated farming systems
 Frequently reared in reservoirs and irrigation systems with effluents used for irrigation, reducing fertilizer applications

4
3
6
5
2
1
0
Tilapia Market Trends
7
Prices have been constant or trending down for several years, will not increase with inflation
Fresh fillet
Frozen fillet
Whole
Live

Global aquaculture production of tilapia
Aquaculture Fishery
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
Year

Advertising at all levels

Advertising

Cooking contests and gastronomic festivals

Tilapia by-products
 Leather goods from skins
 Pharmaceuticals from skins
 Formed fish products
 Fertilizer
 Fish meal

Tilapia Leather

Flowers made from Tilapia scales

Future global tilapia production
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0