‘Tilapia’ now grown in seawater

PHILIPPINES - Tilapia, a fish specie commonly grown in freshwater, is now grown in seawater, a local tilapia-hatchery operator here said on Tuesday.

Physician-turned-entrepreneur Ma. Antonia Mercado, owner of the Mercado Farm, told The Manila Times that tilapia is ready for fish culture.

Mercado’s disclosure came five years after the tilapia aquaculture in the country reached its saturation point.

"Everybody is into tilapia aquaculture and it crowded our freshwater ponds and rivers with brackish water, that’s why we have to come up with new ways of growing tilapia [Saint Peter’s fish] to meet the demand in the domestic and international markets," Mercado said.

To come up with a new breed, Mercado Farm put together a brackish-water breed with fast-growing freshwater counterpart.

The result is the saline tilapia breed that can stand the high salinity of sea water, allowing fish-cage and fish-pen operators to grow tilapia in sea water, an area that seemed impossible years ago.

Mercado said the practice of growing saline tilapia started last year in Samar and other parts of Eastern Visayas and Central Luzon, like Bataan and Zambales, through the help of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

She said that saline tilapia can also be used to grow prawns, because tilapia is good in preventing luminous bacteria that destroys prawn fries.

Saline tilapia breeders were first raised by Mercado Farm on the San Juanico Strait between Samar and Leyte, but its fry is now available in Bulacan.

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Source: ABS-CBN News

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