Tilapia has gone from a relatively unknown seafood product to a product that is now experiencing skyrocketing demand and supply in US seafood markets. Both foreign and domestic producers of tilapia have responded to consumers growing appetite for tilapia by delivering more and more farm-raised tilapia to the US market in a variety of product forms. Total consumption of tilapia was nearly 100 million pounds of live weight equivalent in 1997. This represented a 26% increase in tilapia consumption over the 1996 level. For the last two years, consumption has increased by an amazing 60%!

The importation of farm-raised tilapia into the United States (US) began on a commercial scale in 1992. Prior to this time, there was very little flow of tilapia into the US. Tilapia is now the third largest imported aquaculture product entering the US, following just behind farm-raised shrimp and Atlantic salmon. Strong demand for more tilapia from the US consumer continues to fuel the expansion of tilapia farming in Latin America and the Caribbean. The quantity of imported tilapia increased by 30% in 1997 to a total of 81 million pounds live weight equivalent. The quantity of fresh fillets grew by 37% while the quantity of frozen fillets increased by 47%! The leading producer of frozen fillets is Indonesia while Costa Rica and Ecuador are vying for the number one slot in the fresh fillet sector. The value of all tilapia imports rose 15% in 1997, reaching a total gate value of nearly $50 million. The majority of imported tilapia is in fillet form. Prices for both fresh and frozen fillets are available.

Domestic production of tilapia in the US reached 17 million pounds in 1997. This was up 5% over production levels of 1996. US producers have created a rather large niche market for live tilapia in the US and Canada and sell live fish almost exclusively. Less than 15% of all US domestic production is processed into fillets.

The US market demand for high quality farm-raised tilapia will continue to grow throughout the remainder of the 1990's as consumers become more and more familiar with the great qualities of this farm-raised fish. Please click here for a listing of farm-raised tilapia products offered by AquaSol, Inc.