page_title: Tilapia
section_title: Aquaculture
hierarchical_section_title: Tilapia / Species / Commercial species / Aquaculture
caption_attribution_description: English: National Tilapia Research and Development Program (NTRDP)[1] - Red Nile Tilapia[2][3][4]Oreochromis niloticus
context_page_description: Tilapia is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine and tilapiine tribes, with the economically most important species placed in Coptodonini and Oreochromini. Tilapia are mainly freshwater fish inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes, and less commonly found living in brackish water. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisanal fishing in Africa, and they are of increasing importance in aquaculture and aquaponics. Tilapia can become a problematic invasive species in new warm-water habitats such as Australia, whether deliberately or accidentally introduced, but generally not in temperate climates due to their inability to survive in cold water.
  Tilapia is the fourth-most consumed fish in the United States dating back to 2002. The popularity of tilapia came about due to its low price, easy preparation, and mild taste.
context_section_description: Farmed tilapia production in 2002 worldwide was about 1.5 million tonnes (1.5 million long tons; 1.7 million short tons) annually, with an estimated value of US$1.8 billion, about equal to those of salmon and trout.
  Unlike carnivorous fish, tilapia can feed on algae or any plant-based food. This reduces the cost of tilapia farming, reduces fishing pressure on prey species, avoids concentrating toxins that accumulate at higher levels of the food chain, and makes tilapia the preferred "aquatic chickens" of the trade.
  Because of their large size, rapid growth, and palatability, tilapia cichlids are the focus of major farming efforts, specifically various species of Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Coptodon (all were formerly in the namesake genus Tilapia). Like other large fish, they are a good source of protein and popular among artisanal and commercial fisheries. Most such fisheries were originally found in Africa, but outdoor fish farms in tropical countries, such as Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Indonesia, are underway in freshwater lakes. In temperate zone localities, tilapiine farming operations require energy to warm the water to tropical temperatures. One method uses waste heat from factories and power stations.
  At 1.3 million tonnes per annum, China is the largest tilapia producer in the world, followed by Egypt with 0.5 million. The US, by comparison, produces 10 thousand tonnes against a consumption of 2.5 million.
  In modern aquaculture, wild-type Nile tilapia are not too often seen, as the dark color of their flesh is not much desired by many customers, and because it has a bit of a reputation of being a rough fish associated with poverty. However, they are fast-growing and give good fillets; leucistic ("red") breeds which have lighter meat have been developed and are very popular.
  Hybrid stock is also used in aquaculture; Nile × blue tilapia hybrids are usually rather dark, but a light-colored hybrid breed known as "Rocky Mountain White" tilapia is often grown due to its very light flesh and tolerance of low temperatures.
  Commercially grown tilapia are almost exclusively male. This is typically done by adding male sex hormone in the food to the tilapia fry, causing any potential female tilapia to change sex to male. It can also be achieved through hybridization of certain tilapia species or the use of so-called "supermales" that have homozygous male sex chromosomes (resulting in all their offspring receiving a male sex chromosome and thus becoming males). Males are preferred because they grow much faster than females. Additionally, because tilapia are prolific breeders, the presence of female tilapia results in rapidly increasing populations of small fish, rather than a stable population of harvest-size animals.
  Other methods of tilapia population control are polyculture, with predators farmed alongside tilapia or hybridization with other species.
caption: Red nile tilapia under experimentation in CLSU, Philippines
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