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Could exotic fish provide economies of scale for struggling Scots farmers?

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Published Date:
21 October 2007
WHERE there's warm water there's brass.
Farmers are being urged to grow tropical fish in their barns to help keep their heads above water.

The latest foot and mouth outbreak has had a devastating effect on the country's beleaguered agricultural sector.

But scientists are claiming farmers could balance their books by converting disused outhouses to rear tilapia - which usually thrive in the warm waters of Africa and Asia.

Researchers believe harvesting a crop of 1,000 of the exotic creatures - which grow far faster than salmon or trout - could net an annual profit of £5,000.

Tilapia is already a hit with American diners and the fish is being tipped to become the latest food fad with environmentally conscious UK consumers. Because of its white flesh and mild taste, tilapia is also being touted as a substitute for over-fished species such as cod and haddock.

A three-year study at Stirling University, funded by the Scottish Government-backed Rural Economy and Land Use programme,

created a simple eco-friendly system which would allow the fish to be grown in converted farm buildings.

Researcher Will Leschen said: "Tilapia are warm water fish and require a well insulated building. When the water is heated to an appropriate level they can reach a market size of 500g [just over 1lb] in the space of six to eight months.

"This compares very favourably to salmon and rainbow trout in Scotland which take between 18 and 24 months."

Experts have devised a system where the fish are farmed in tanks filled with constantly recycled, recirculated and filtered water, which means effluence is not discharged into rivers.

The fish is already being farmed by a handful of producers in England, but as yet none in Scotland.

Leschen and his colleagues are keen for that to change.

He said: "Tilapia has a mild taste and is very well suited to being used in a number of different dishes, but we accept that things are at a very early stage.

We would initially encourage farmers to start producing between 700 to 1,000 kilos of fish in their first year and go upwards from that."

Currently tilapia can fetch up to £5 a kilo at market, compared to £3 to £4 for trout and salmon.

The National Farmers' Union Scotland welcomed the project. Spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said: "There are many examples in Scotland where farm businesses have gone into more unusual forms of activity to increase income.

"Indoor fish farming is, however, one of the more extraordinary potential routes to diversification I have ever come across."

A spokesman for the Nile Valley restaurant in Chapel Street, Edinburgh - which specialises in authentic Sudanese cuisine and serves the fish whole covered in spices - said the fish was already selling well. "Samak bulti, or black tilapia, is the most popular fish in the Nile Valley. It is also one of our most popular dishes".

But others are not so sure about its potential.

Eddie Kwok, the owner of the Eddie's Seafood Market in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, said there was not much demand for the fish. He said: "Speaking personally I am not really keen on the taste of tilapia."

Tilapia's prevalence is in contrast to cod which has been in decline in recent decades.

Last week the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) said the amount of cod caught in the North Sea and Eastern English Channel should be more than halved in 2008 to enable populations to recover. That was better news from the ICES' Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, which in previous years has advocated a total ban on cod fishing in the North Sea in the face of heavily depleted stocks.

There is hope levels of cod can be built up because of a boost to the population in 2005, scientists said.

Tilapia takes its plaice on restaurant menus

ANDY McGregor, chef and owner of Edinburgh's Blonde restaurant, was one of the first to introduce tilapia to Scottish diners.

He said: "I am an admirer of tilapia and introduced it to our menu a few years back.

"It is a very striking fish as the skin is quite dark while the flesh is very light. It has a mild, buttery flavour and it presents well.

"To serve tilapia at its best I like to pan-fry the skin and crisp it up, and serve it with a spicy piquant salsa or a curry sauce.

" In the past we have also tried it with a spicy chickpea salad which worked really well. You can't really compare it to cod or haddock, despite it being a white-fleshed fish and to me it is much more like snapper.

"Tilapia is not everyone's favourite and some people don't like fish with the skin on. That is the only downside.

"One or two people told me that they felt the skin had a slightly gritty taste, which I disagreed with.

"Obviously tilapia are originally from Africa and it would be great to have them more readily available in this part of the world.

"I'll certainly be watching the plans to farm them in Scotland with great interest."

The full article contains 869 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 20 October 2007 11:01 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: Sea fishing industry
 
1

Tennscot,

Tenn., 21/10/2007 00:33:31

Go for it Tilapia are a Mild white good texture and good tasting fish. It`s eaten all across the Americas North and South. Most sold here in Walmart/asda? in frozen packs......Crap!!!!!!!. From New Zealand farm raised good. There`s a market out there even for export. Americans are fed up seeing everything from Lead Tainted toys to Frozen fish and shrimp with little health controls in the super markets.Stop anyone in the street in any American City and ask China or Scotland. ??? It sure as hell wont be China.

2

Tennscot,

Tenn., 21/10/2007 00:36:47

Ps ., the can be processed whole or filleted without skin. They make no bad fish `N Chips

3

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 02:47:44

The mighty Sepik river ecosystem in Northern New Guinea was irrevocably destroyed by Tilapia over thirty years ago. Efforts to exterminate it by gill netting were useless, as were efforts to market the catch in PNG. I tried it a couple of times but gave up. It's very bland and has numerous hair bones which make efficient filleting problematic.

Here in Northern Australia Tilapia is an extremely serious proscribed noxious pest which is threatening a number of major river ecosystems. There are government sponsored Tilapia catching days where people are encouraged to catch and destroy as many Tilapia as possible. NOBODY eats them for the simple reason that they are crap. I suppose you could tart it up with "a spicy piquant salsa or a curry sauce", but why bother if you can access something that will add to the taste experience rather than detract from it.

While Tilapia's growth rates are attractive from a farming point of view, they are little, if at all, better than the European carp, a native species which has been farmed for centuries but only successfully marketed in populations which grew up eating it. I wish the farmers well in their enterprise, but I can't see it winning more than a very small niche market.

4

49th State,

in the dog house again 21/10/2007 03:19:46

It's a good tasting fish, but still has a bit of a fishy taste here. Stick to wild salmon and other native fish. Do a better job at sustaining your fisheries at home. Do not be dependant for food on any one!

5

Sean K,

Edinburgh 21/10/2007 03:41:51

Due to the decline in white fish supplies from the North Atlantic, much of the american restaurant demand for white fish fillet is already being supplied by tilapia, - mainly from Malaysia, but other countries are cashin in.

The farmed tilapia can be harvested and filleted at precisely the size preferred by the food busines.
Note, - these are not wild tilapia, and whatever the problems of introduced tilapia, that does not affect fish farms. Wild tilapia pose no problem in African ricers and lakes. They are herbivores.

6

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 04:34:14

Gday Sean #5

I have to question your claim that "much of the american restaurant demand for white fish fillet is already being supplied by tilapia".Would you care to quantify that and cite sources?

It is true that "Wild tilapia pose no problem in African ricers (sic) and lakes". This is because they are native to those areas and have evolved to fill their own niche in those riparian ecosystems. To my knowledge, in every country where tilapia have been introduced they become, to a greater or lesser extent, a noxious pest. It would be naive to the point of reckless to believe that farmed tilapia will not escape into the ecosystem of their area of introduction.

Finally, it is inaccurate to call tilapia "herbivores". Much of the damage caused by tilapia to native ecosystems is caused by their consumption of the eggs and larvae of native species. They would more accurately be described as omnivorous.

7

Advance Alba,

How about farm fishing Cod? 21/10/2007 04:53:05

If you can farm these fish, why not cod? Solve the North Sea issue a a stroke, and get Westminster out of our hair (and waters)! Or is there something I am missing here?

8

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 06:16:41

There are numerous problems to farming cod, but the real ballbreaker is that cod, like most table fish, are carnivorous - more accurately, pisciverous. They will not thrive without a high proportion (about 20% from memory) of high quality protein in their diet. The best, and to my knowledge the only viable source of this is White Fish Meal, which, of course, comes from so-called industrial fishing. This is also true of e.g. salmon and trout, but the comparatively high market value of thes fish, plus the fact that they breed in fresh water make them viable, albeit to a niche market.

9

49th State,

beside myself with mirth 21/10/2007 06:31:58

If the salmon I catch are not wild, I release them.

10

jj,

21/10/2007 06:58:18

The Spanish, Russians and the rest will hoover up all kinds of fish without regulation. Take back the North Sea that Harold Wilson and Ted Heath planned away to the EU (EEC).

11

Guga II,

Rockall 21/10/2007 07:21:03

You could get rid of your tropical fish, and grow your own dinner.

12

Boy Wonder,

21/10/2007 07:52:50

I was just thinking that, Guga!!! Does anyone know how goldfish taste??? My cats seemed to like them, after they knocked the bowl over!

13

Guga II,

Rockall 21/10/2007 08:29:13

#12 BW. They are just Carp, and as tasteless.

14

Dave From Barra,

Western Isles 21/10/2007 08:34:54

Oh Crikey! We would have to breed a fishdog, invent a fisherd, create new phrases such as a wolf in fish clothings and red sky at night fisherds delight etc!

Brilliant! Whacky but brilliant!

15

Riley Hamish,

Edina 21/10/2007 10:05:28

I think we'd do well to be careful here. It's likely to bejust a matter of time before these Tilapia get into our rivers and waterways.(like farmed salmon) and if they are as potentially harmful as #6 James I, Oz suggests...it may not prove to be such a simple solution.
Let's think this through first before we start re-stocking the bathwater !!

16

Nìall,

Donostia, Euskal Herria 21/10/2007 10:23:47

#16 "It's likely to bejust a matter of time before these Tilapia get into our rivers and waterways."

And die off because it's bl**dy baltic in there. These are tropical fish -- there is no danger in farming them in in-land tanks in Scotland, whereas farming trout and salmon in river and sea pens is an ecological disaster, spreading disease and lice and leaving the seafloor below barren.

In-land fish farming is the future.

17

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 12:58:36

Gday Niall #18

You're quite correct in stating that tilapia which escape into rivers and waterways would " die off because it's bl**dy baltic in there". However I would caution against underestimating the incredibly aggressive colonising ability of tilapia, which I have seen at first hand.

Consider this: Growth rates in tilapia are directly proportional to the ambient temperature of the water. To achieve commercial growth rates the fish would have to be maintained at tropical temps. That would entail an electricity bill of the order of running two or three Olympic size swimming pools - right through a Scottish winter. The cost saving from raising the ambient temperature by a few degrees in winter would be very tempting. With two or three generations of tilapia per year, this amounts to a very powerful artificial selection process for the species. Whether this could ever result in tilapia colonising Scottish waterways is a moot point: nobody knows. The consequences, however, are quite certain: species such as salmon and trout would cease to exist in tilapia infested waterways.

The risk may be small - tiny, even. But given the consequences it is not negligible.

18

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 14:17:01

The point I want to make is, if you are a distressed farmer looking to make money out of growing fish in a vacant barn, why the hell would you stock a comparatively unknown and exotic species such as tilapia when you could stock carp? There is an existing market for carp in Eastern Europe, where popoulations have never had historic access to the potentially limitless high quality marine stocks of table fish that Scotland enjoys.

I apologise in advance for saying this, but having eaten the best of the best in seafood, carp is crap. However for millions of people it's a delicacy. Gefilte fish is a traditional Jewish dish, and Wikipedia informs us that "Traditionally, locally available fish such as carp, pike, or whitefish were used to make gefilte fish"

Farming carp instaed of tilapia would have the following advatages:
1. Similar, if not better growth rates at given ambient temps.
2. Possibillity of add-on profits from on-site processing to gefilte fish.
3. Existing market for processed products in Eastern Europe.
4. No possibility of an environmental catastrophe from colonisation of native waterays by an exotic species. Cyprinius carpo sp. is native to Northern European waterways.

There is a real opportunity here for small scale farmers to become involved in profitable fish farming. There is, ho0wever, no need to use tilapia, and I would caution anyone considering this option to seek further advice.

19

Guga II,

Rockall 21/10/2007 15:14:41

#20 James. And fishing for carp is a piece of cake. All you need is some sweet corn and a hook. Pity they are a rubbish fish.

20

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 16:33:49

Aye well Guga, you're right there on both counts. But the beauty of it is you don't have to either catch them or eat them to make a quid. I haven't been home for twenty five years, but I hear there has been an influx of Polish immigrants to Scotland. Surely a ready made market for gefilte carp. There's a fortune to be made without mucking around with tilapia.

21

James I,

Oz 21/10/2007 17:41:47

Error in my post #19:

"The cost saving from raising the ambient temperature by a few degrees in winter..." should read "The cost saving from lowering the ambient temperature by a few degrees in winter..."

Sorrry about that.

22

The Strategist,

21/10/2007 21:04:49

You can buy these already from supermarkets. We had some recently. Grilled and with a squeeze of lemon juice they were extremely tasty.

23

Sean K,

Edinburgh 23/10/2007 03:45:26

Re James I query
asking for proof of tilapia imports to the USA :

In 2004 America imported 113,000 tons of tilapia in various forms. Main exporteres of the fish were China and Taiwan, but other SE Asian and Latin American states also involved.

The statistics indicate that the US tilapia imports are rising by over ten per cent a year.

While having nothing against carp - they are also delicious table fish when properly prepared, - they are less attractive to importers. Main markets for carp lie as you say in East Europe, but also in the far east and SE Asia.

And as others have noted above, - no tilapia released into Scottish rivers or lakes would long survive. Apart from the temperature, the food supply is not there for them.


 

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