Tilapia consumption is growing worldwide and is widely served in restaurant chains, the retail sector on cruise ships, in hospitals and schools. It is sold as fresh or frozen fish (whole, not processed) as highly processed products such as parmesan-crusted portions and fish fingers as well as canned cat food.
Other by-products from the tilapia farming industry are fish-meal and fish oil. Due to increasing over-fishing of marine species and high prices of marine fish-oils, processed tilapia may become an excellent substitute for sea fish species such as hake.
Tilapia is a quality substitute at a competitive price. Omega-3 oil from tilapia is used to enrich orange juice and in Honduras biodiesel is also derived as a by-product of tilapia farming.
Tilapia leather goods have become a side industry of aquaculture in Brazil. Tilapia skin can be tanned and coloured and is used in leather products such as belts, wallets and clothing.
Another important by-product from tilapia farming is collagen collected from the inside of the fish skins; European countries moved away from the collagen from mammals due to fears of mad cow disease, according to a 2008 report by the University of Arizona. Also, fish collagen can be used for the preparation of time-release medicines.
An integrated medician veterinarian of the University of California, Davis successfully used tilapia skins as biological bandages to treat burn wounds on wild animals. This technique was also used in Brazil where limited resources urged doctors to use tilapia skin for skin grafts on burn victims.
Due to a limited fish-eating culture in South Africa and consumers being unaware and uneducated of tilapia, the fish is not yet popular in South Africa.
The largest consumer section for tilapia is foreign nationals living in South Africa as well as high-end consumers who are accustomed to fish in their diets.
Tilapia is sold by major retailer Woolworths. Demand for tilapia is showing growth, especially as it could replace hake due to similar meat characteristics and better pricing.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) Aquaculture Handbook 2016 South Africa exported approximately 325 tons of tilapia to the value of R3.5 million in 2015.
The top three export destinations for South African tilapia were Botswana (196 tons), the Democratic Republic of Congo (79 t) and China (22 t). The volume of exports for tilapia increased by almost 323 % due to an increase in imports and the increased number of tilapia farmers in South Africa.
By Marinda Louw