Taiwan tilapia, raised without hormones, keeps costs under control to capture the food-safety market
Taiwan tilapia was once the largest exporter to the United States, but today its market has been carved up by China and Southeast Asia, and over the past two years it has lost many export orders because of high fish prices, leading to an imbalance between supply and demand this year that pushed prices below cost.
Chen Rong-hua, associate researcher at the Freshwater Aquaculture Research Center of the Fisheries Research Institute, said bluntly, "China, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, Africa and other places make good use of hormones and other drugs to control the sex of tilapia, stimulate growth and lower production costs. China also provides agricultural subsidies for tilapia exports. Quoting the same price to the United States, Taiwan is at 2 US dollars, while China can push it down to 1.3 US dollars. It is really hard for Taiwan to compete with other countries on price."
He said Taiwan has always insisted on using selective breeding to improve the early maturation and high fecundity problems of tilapia, moving in the direction of "safe fisheries." The government should promote this advantage more internationally and build a differentiated market so that Taiwan tilapia can have room to grow.
Once a Star Seller to the US, Taiwan Tilapia Cannot Match Major Producers and Keeps Retreating
Taiwan tilapia exports can be divided into whole frozen fish exported as "frozen whole fish," as well as frozen fillets and sashimi, with the main export market being the United States. In 1999, Taiwan was once the largest supplier of tilapia to the United States, with a market share as high as 60 percent, but within 3 years China's aquaculture technology caught up quickly, and its exports to the United States also surpassed Taiwan. By 2012, Taiwan's market share in the United States had fallen to only 5.6%.
In the previous 2 years, because of rising Taiwan tilapia prices, some US orders shifted to Southeast Asia, and last year sales to the United States dropped to only 1.9 tons. In response, Chen Rong-hua, associate researcher at the Freshwater Aquaculture Research Center of the Fisheries Research Institute, said bluntly that this was truly no fault of the battle itself: "China, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, Africa and other places make good use of hormones and other drugs to control the sex of tilapia, stimulate growth and lower production costs. In particular, China also provides agricultural subsidies for tilapia exports. Quoting the same price to the United States, Taiwan is at 2 US dollars, while China can push it down to 1.3 US dollars. It is really hard for Taiwan to compete with other countries on price."
According to 2014 statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), China's tilapia output reached as high as 1.698 million tons, ranking first in the world, while Indonesia was second with 1.041 million tons. Taiwan's output was about 70,000 tons, ranking 9th globally. This shows that with the rise and replication of global tilapia farming, it is very difficult for Taiwan to continue down the old path of pursuing output.
Taiwan Refines Breeding Improvements: Tilapia Without Hormones and with a High Male Ratio
For decades, tilapia breeding has been improved from the angle of "monosex fish." Why monosex fish? Because female tilapia can on average reproduce 4 to 7 times a year, and each time can lay 500 to 1500 eggs, which easily affects the pond environment and causes competition for feed, resulting in about 70 percent of fish at harvest failing to reach market weight and dealing a blow to fishermen's livelihoods. In addition, male fish usually grow 1 times faster than females and are 2/3 larger in body size, so all-male tilapia became the breeding goal.
Taiwan began developing monosex tilapia in 1973, and private breeder Qiu Yi-hua bred "98% monosex tilapia" as early as 1976. No hormones at all are needed during the rearing process, and as many as 98% of the hatchlings are male. Not only do they grow quickly, they are also easier to manage in ponds.
Chen Rong-hua said that compared with Taiwan, many countries in the world still rely on hormones such as male hormones to make tilapia change sex, because it is cheap and convenient. Moreover, the United States, a major consumer of tilapia, has established safe tolerance levels, so as long as countries check drug residues in advance before export, there is no problem selling to the United States.
