China’s extreme cold weather during early 2008 has brought down the global supply of Tilapia by 13 percent during 2008 to 2.6 million tonne. This pushed the prices of Tilapia and at the same time production in other major countries remained almost the same or slightly higher. The forecast indicates normal production in China this year and some level of softening of prices.
There is no doubt that tilapia is becoming an attractive fish product in Europe, after years of reluctance by major importers. Spain is also starting to look for Tilapia supplies. It is told that a major Spanish company is conducting studies on the potential for Tilapia production in Mozambique and Namibia.
Now the farming of tilapia is becoming an issue as two different organisations — the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) — are about to finalise guidelines for Tilapia farm certification. It is informed that GAA has completed Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards for Tilapia. The BAP standards and guidelines for such farms, share many points with the BAP standards for other cultured species. These apply to cage and net pen farming as well as pond culture.
On the contrary WWF released a draft of Tilapia aquaculture standards in September 2008. WWF is seeking public comment on the sustainable farming standards, which were developed through the group’s Tilapia dialogue process over the last three years.
