RP is world center for tilapia culture

Unknown to most Filipinos and the rest of the world, the Philippines is considered as the world’s center of technological advances in aquaculture – at least, when it comes to tilapia.

The accolade came from no less than the American Tilapia Association based in Arizona, U.S.A. "Breeds of tilapia developed in the Philippines are farmed around the world and greatly contributed to reducing hunger amongst the world’s poor," said Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons, vice president of ATA and professor of the University of Arizona in a message during the 6th international symposium on tilapia in aquaculture or ISTA 6 held in Manila on Sept. 12-16.

Some 800 delegates from all over the world that included world renowned fishery scientists, researchers, businessmen, feed millers, fish farmers, government officials and students participated in what Dr. Fitzsimmons described as the most successful ever of the six series of ISTA meetings.

In his keynote address, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said Filipinos take their tilapia very seriously. "So seriously, that we are making the tilapia our fish-market barometer — an indicator of how affordable fish is to the great majority of Filipinos. If we can have affordable tilapia in our market, then we can at least rest assured that our people will not go hungry — and that they can have an affordable and tasty protein source to eat with their rice," the agriculture secretary said.

The staging of ISTA is hosted and sponsored by the American Tilapia Association and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and co-sponsored by the Schering Plough Animal Health-Aquaculture, Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program (A/CRSP) and FYD, International. International supporters include the World Aquaculture Society, The WorldFish Center, Asian Institute of Technology, Tilapia International Foundation, CIRAD and the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

The symposium is the sixth of a series of symposia that have brought together tilapia biologists and technologists to review the latest discoveries in tilapia, genetics, improvements in production systems and other fields related to tilapia and their use in aquaculture.

In his welcome address, BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. said that early on, the Philippines was one of the countries that have made that "leap of faith" in tilapia aquaculture and have made huge investments in its research and development. "Our excitement in hosting ISTA 6 comes from knowing that we have so much to share and so much more to gain in the expected exchange of ideas and experiences," he said.

"Given the impressive list of scientific papers and poster presentations that have been accepted for ISTA 6, there is reason to believe that we will be able to assemble all past and current achievements in tilapia aquaculture into a coherent framework that will result in the enhancement of core competencies in many areas, expansion of existing packets of excellence and opening more windows of opportunities for countryside entrepreneurs," Sarmiento said.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Fisheries and Livestock Cesar M. Drilon, Jr. said the Philippine symposium put special emphasis on the advances in genetic development of tilapia breeds, reproduction and sex control, nutrition, health management and diseases, brackishwater culture systems, pond management, and production systems, economics, marketing and processing and regional reviews.

The world-renowned GIFT strain or the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia was developed at the BFAR freshwater fisheries research center in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.The GET Excel, the latest tilapia strain that has taken the country by storm, is a progeny of the GIFT. Currently, BFAR is actively promoting the production and dispersal of this new strain by establishing 12 BFAR tilapia hatcheries nationwide to propagate and multiply the GET Excel.

Parallel to this production strategy, the new agriculture secretary instructed the BFAR to come up with a program to develop Mindanao, particularly Cagayan de Oro as the country’s tilapia export center beginning this year.

Yap is optimistic that with the production of GET Excel in Mindanao, the country may eventually penetrate the lucrative fillet markets in the US, Japan, Europe, Brunei and the Middle East which could run into millions of dollars. At the moment, frozen tilapia fillet is reported to be selling to as much as $11.50 per kilo in the US market.