Tilapia Found to Perform Poorly Nutritionally and Environmentally

As it turns out, after more reading on the topic, Tilapia often called the perfect factory fish is not so perfect when it comes to other factors like nutritional values and the environment. I covered this topic in a previous post because the numbers are truly staggering. As the New York Times recently reported, Americans ate 475 million pounds of Tilapia last year, four times the amount a decade ago, making this once obscure African native the most popular farmed fish in the United States. Aquaculture’s rising star lives well in high-density cages, breeds and grows fast and, from a marketing point of view, it’s quite bland in taste making it the perfect fish for the many who don’t particularly like a fishy flavour. Isn’t it all too good to be true? Maybe it is for those who farm it and see their volumes and profits rise year after year. But for the end consumer it may come as a revelation to know that, as reported by the New York Times, compared with other fish, farmed tilapia contains relatively small amounts of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, the fish oils that are the main reasons doctors recommend eating fish frequently; salmon has more than 10 times the amount of tilapia. Also, farmed tilapia contains a less healthful mix of fatty acids because the fish are fed corn and soy instead of lake plants and algae, the diet of wild tilapia. Moreover it appears that most of the Tilapia imported in the US comes from either Asia or Latin America, where some argue farming is still widely unregulated and intensive, making it an unfriendly practice to the environment and the animals. Whilst it seems that the US has no problems with these matters, at least so far, taking about Tilapia to my clients in Europe, I see skepticism as you would expect from a more conservative community like the EU when it comes to sanitary concerns, deregulated farms, etc… I believe that there will be a place for Tilapia on our plates in the future, mostly because given the declining fish stocks and rising population we don’t have much of a choice, but a more regulated and transparent acquafarming industry is required for sustainable growth.

image courtesy of NY Times

is tilapia aquafarming’s cash cow?

If you don’t even know what tilapia is, don’t worry you’re amongst many. This fresh water fish originally from Africa, now widespread in Asia, is also called the chicken of the sea, as it can be bred in a high density environment with low feeding costs. These two factors alone are enough to make any aquafarming venture a winner. Moreover if the fish you are farming is easy to market, considerably inexpensive and versatile for cooking, you have a bingo. CNN’s Earth Frontiers program lately aired a documentary covering the wonders of this still relatively unknown fish, supporting aquafarming as a sustainable industry as opposed to wild fishing to feed the ever-growing population. I personally don’t think we have a choice because the supplies in the wild are diminishing, so it is wise to bet on those species (like this one) that allow us to farm the fish in a cost-effective way. Having said this, watching the video, I found myself wondering if animal rights groups would be at ease seeing how crowded the farming tanks are. If there’s any of you out there reading, I’d love to hear your comments!

see the CNN Earth’s Frontier documentary here