Overview

Tilapia (including all species and hybrids) is the second most important group of farmed fish after carp and the most widely grown of any farmed fish. It is farmed in at least 85 countries, with most production coming from Asia (China) and Latin America (Ecuador, Costa Rica and Honduras).

The global supply of farmed tilapia surged in the 1990s and early 2000s, largely due to genetic improvements through widespread introduction of improved tilapia breeds, feed supply availability, effective management of reproduction through sex reversal and hybridization, and expansion of consumer markets.  May 2008 . . .  Tilapia

Marketing

• American Tilapia Association - Nonprofit organization that supports and facilitates the growth of tilapia production and consumption within the United States. 
• Aquacultural Situation and Outlook - Presented at the Southern Regional Agricultural Outlook Conference, 2002. 
• Aquaculture Certification Council - A nongovernmental body established to certify social, environmental and food safety standards at aquaculture facilities throughout the world. This Missouri nonprofit, nonmember public benefit corporation builds on elements of the voluntary Global Aquaculture Alliance Responsible Aquaculture Program system that combines site inspections and effluent sampling with sanitary controls, therapeutic controls and product traceability.
• Aquaculture Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2006.
• Census of Aquaculture (2005), NASS, USDA, 2006.
• Marketing of Tilapia in the USA, University of Arizona.
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Commercial Services- Contains leads, current and historical trade statistics, import requirements, news and regulatory information. This mission of the Trade and Commercial Service staff is to promote and facilitate trade for the U.S. seafood and aquaculture industries by expanding existing markets and opening new ones for the U.S. producers and processors.
• Premier Organic Farms - This Texas-based farming enterprise uses organic growing practices as the basis for its state-of-the-art aquaponics operation. The company has developed specialized organic growing techniques for production of fresh organic tilapia and some other crops.
• Seafood Intelligence - Business news portal for the international seafood industry.  
• State of World Aquaculture: 2006, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 500, Rome, 2006.
• Tilapia Imports and Exports, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics and Economic Division.
• Tilapia Market Report, FAO Report, January 2008.

Production

• Culture of Hybrid Tilapia, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 2006.
• Ethanol Facilities Intention: Go Fishin', Des Moines Register, 2007 - A Wisconsin ethanol plant plans to venture into large-scale aquaculture, using steam from the ethanol plant to heat the water in the proposed fish tanks.     
• Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) Fish, WorldFish Center.
• Introduction to Tilapia Nutrition, University of Arizona. 
• Introduction to Tilapia Sex-Determination and Sex-Reversal, University of Arizona.
• Managing Systems for Tilapia Culture, Auburn University.
• Nile Tilapia Cultured Aquatic Species Fact Sheet, FAO, Fisheries Global Information System.
• North Carolina Aquaculture Production Statistics, NCDA&CS Aquaculture Division - Summarized by number of producers, species, pounds of production and estimated value.
• Tilapia, North Carolina State University Aquaculture Extension.
• Tilipia Economics and Markets, Production and Markets, 2003. 
• Tilapia Production, Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, Texas A&M University. 

 
Links checked January 2008.