Worldwide tilapia production exceeded more than 4.2 million metric tons in 2012, a 6 percent increase from 2011, but experts say by 2014 it will exceed 4.5 million as demand continues to grow.
Kevin Fitzsimmons, professor of environmental science at the University of Arizona, told the crowd at the World Tilapia Conference last month the estimated value of tilapia product forms imported to the United States, the world's most valuable tilapia market, will exceed $1 billion by the end of this year.
Combining the $986.1 million in tilapia imports to the United States in 2012, with the estimated $84 million in US-produced farmed tilapia which was sold that year, that mark has essentially already broken, Fitzsimmons said.
In his presentation, Fitzsimmons pointed to several reasons why the consumption of the whitefish has grown, not only in the United States, but throughout the world.
According to Fitzsimmons, the increase of tilapia farming in Mekong, Vietnam; government support and private sector investment in Malaysia; the commercialization of sub-Saharan Africa and the availability of water, labor, land and feed in Brazil have all led to increased production.
Similar to Malaysia, Bangladesh farmers, with the support from their government and private sector investments, are expected to increase production from roughly 100,000 metric tons in 2011, by nearly 20,000 metric tons this year.
Mike Picchietti, president of Americas Tilapia Alliance, told IntraFish the numbers shouldn’t be surprising as the popularity of the fish continues to grow, especially in the United States.
“In general aquaculture is shrinking in this country but tilapia farming is growing exponentially,” he said. “I think tilapia is going to continue to grow everywhere but it’ll depend on the country’s natural resources.”
After announcing the change from the American Tilapia Association to the Americas Tilapia Alliance (ATA) last month, in order to expand the group's focus and international influence, Picchietti said the use of the fish could grow worldwide if the technology to process it is developed.
In the US the cost to produce the fish is double, and three to five times as much to process it than tropical developing countries, he said. Automation has also not worked yet because of the small size of tilapia needs human work.
Marketing live tilapia could also increase the demand for the fish in the region, Picchietti added.
“I could see all the grocery stores and restaurants having live tanks with tilapia in them,” he said. “That’s one of the main goals of the new ATA is to see if we can expand the market and develop trade in the central and south American countries.”