Independent Species Comparison
In a 1993 ICLARM study, Contribution No. 709., Aquaculture, 111:171-188.
Eight different Nilotica strains were collected from around the world and
evaluated for growth performance and other parameters, in eleven different
farming environments. RESULTS: The Egyptian Manzallah and Ismailia were
consistently the top two performers.
Disease Prevention
As the Tilapia industry continues to grow the tendency to increase densities
also grows. As densities increase so do the conditions for disease problems.
Like any living organism, Tilapia can tolerate and resist the presence of
various pathogens as long as the organism is healthy and managed in a healthy
environment. However, if the fish become stressed and weaken there isn’t any
magic bullet, disease free certificate or protocol that can secure the fish
100% from disease, some disease may in fact be endemic. The realities of
commercial farming usually does not allow farms to operate in an isolated,
sealed, bubble-like environment. Live haul trucks, equipment, insects,
plants, snails, snakes, birds, rodents, feed, air, or the soles of operator’s
shoes can introduce pathogens. Most disease outbreaks can be traced back to
stress caused by poor water quality, nutrition or rough handling.
The obvious first step to reduce your risk of disease is to start with a fish
you can check on its disease record. What Aquasafra can offer like no other
hatchery is the largest customer base in the industry with the longest track
record of reliability. Our customer references is the best vehicle to
understand our product. Our stocks and fingerlings are continuously tested
and evaluated by customers and third party laboratories. We are happy to
supply these health certificates prior to shipments, which will provide a
recent evaluation of our seed health.
Seed for Thought
After a farm has invested considerable money in plant and equipment the value
of a reliable and proven seed supply is crucial to success. As Tilapia
farmers try to understand, manage and stabilize their production environment,
the importance of having known growth data from a fingerling source is
necessary to evaluate the system. Considering the investment at risk does it
make sense to depend on an unproven or unknown seed supply? Why not use the
same criteria when stocking a Tilapia farm as other farmer’s use in selecting
seed stock for poultry pig, beef, horses, dogs or plants? Aquasafra is the
known choice that lowers your risk.
Is Vertical Integration the only Model?
American agriculture is based on vertical integration to achieve low costs.
However, not all industries need to be vertically integrated to achieve low
costs. Consider the Taiwan Tilapia industry as a model. Taiwan has high labor
costs, very high land costs, a climate no warmer than the southern United
States, no advantage in feed or power costs and their markets are located on
the other side of the world. But they are able to produce and export Tilapia
at a cost that allows them to dominate the Tilapia industry! The Taiwan
Tilapia industry is not vertically integrated. It is organized via producer
specialization. It is made up of thousands of individual companies; some
specialize in genetics and larvae production, to sell to others who grow
larvae to various fingerling sizes, who sell to others that size fingerlings
to stocker size, to sell to others who grow to 1 lb. for the whole market and
still others who grow to one kilo for the fillet market. There are separate
brokers who run between the producers linking all their needs, there are live
haulers and processing plants all operating at maximum specialized
efficiency, doing what they do best, providing stability to the whole. The
key is each company finds what they are good at, what they have an advantage
in, depending on the site, experience and finances. Maybe the Tilapia
industry in our hemisphere can learn to crawl and gain experience in one area
before it builds and follows vertically integrated models it doesn’t know how
to manage? Maybe, supporting specialists will allow us to reduce costs,
increase management expertise, increase quality, create stability and use our
many comparative advantages? Aquasafra welcomes supply contracts with serious Tilapia businesses.