WHY IS THE PHILIPPINES NOT EXPORTING TILAPIA?*

Since the introduction of the Nile Tilapia in the Philippines by the Central Luzon State University in the 1970’s and the popularization of its cage culture in Laguna Lake by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Station in Binangonan, Rizal in 1979, the culture and production of Tilapia has progressed in leaps and bounds. Its culture has expanded not only in fish scarce areas like the upland provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela but also in areas where marine fishes abounds like Bicol and some provinces in Mindanao. Today, Tilapia is cultured in all regions of the country in ponds, tanks, cages and pens in freshwater, brackishwater and marine waters.


According to the latest Philippines Fisheries Profile, 2007 published by the Bureau of Fisheries and Natural Resources, the Philippines produced some 241,182.75 MT of Tilapia. This made the Philippines one of the top producers of Tilapia in the world. Excluding the production of seaweeds, Tilapia constitutes 34% of the total Philippines aquaculture output.

The popularity of Tilapia as a food fish has spread around the world. The biggest producer of Tilapia in Asia are: China, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. In South America, the top producers are: Brazil, Costa Rica Ecuador and Peru.

The US is the biggest importer of Tilapia while China is the biggest exporter. In 2009, the US imported 91,600MT of Tilapia followed by Mexico, 25,300MT and Russia, 19,000MT. Other countries like Canada, the Middle East and Europe are likewise significant importers of Tilapia

The high local production of Tilapia and its huge export market makes this fish a potential source of dollars for the Filipinos. Moreover, exporting Tilapia will stabilize its local market price that will benefit the Tilapia fishfarmers.

Dr. Patrick Fitzsimmons in one of the Tilapia conference once said that there is no reason why the Philippines cannot export Tilapia. The Philippines is a center for Tilapia aquaculture and has trained international academicians, technicians and entrepreneur in the culture of Tilapia. He also stated that the strain of tilapia being cultured in most countries today was developed in the Philippines.

So, why is the Philippines not exporting tilapia?

Reason 1. The ideal marketable size of Tilapia for the local market is only 200-300g per piece. This will usually take 4-5 months to culture. On the other hand, Tilapia exporters require at least 450g fish for maximum fillet recovery rate. Culture period for this size of fish will take 7-8 months under the current Philippine technology condition.

Filipino Tilapia fishfarmers would rather sell their Tilapia produce at a shorter period of time rather than extend it to 8 months because it will mean more feed consumption and thereby higher risk of loss of their stocks due to typhoons and flooding. Furthermore, the price difference between the 250 grams fish over the 450g fish is very insignificant. This is because, Tilapia bigger than 300g each has lesser demand in the Philippines.


Reason 2. The average domestic wholesale price of Tilapia at present is Php 60./kg (USD 1.30/kg) for 200-250g sized fish. On the other hand, the average price of imported frozen fillets in 2009 in the US was $1.81/lb. At a fillet recovery yield of 30%, this will amount to a live weight price of $0.54/lb or Php 24.84/lb or Php 54.64 /kg. This price is for 450g up size and does not include processing cost and shipping cost. It is evident from this computation that the local wholesale market price of Tilapia is more attractive to local producers than the export price.

Even at a wholesale buying price of Php 60./kg, the Filipino fish farmers are complaining that they are not earning much due to the high cost of production in the Philippines. Unless a lesser cost to produce Tilapia is achieved, the Philippines will never be able to compete for the export of this fish.

Perhaps, we can learn from the Thailand experience. Mr. Warren Turner of Namsai Farm in Thailand stated in a post in an online group discussion the following:
“The wholesale price for dead 500g fish is about 25 baht/kg (Php37./kg). 800g live fish are 37 baht/kg (Php51.8/kg). 300g fish may be about 20 baht/kg (Php28).

The reason why Tilapia is cheaper (in Thailand) than the Philippines is no doubt because tilapia farming here is mostly based on green water and supplemental feed. There are many fertilizer and feed-type inputs. It is a recycling industry for waste feedstuffs. There are also farms feeding commercial feed, although some only use this from 300g upwards.”

*This article was published in the April 2010 issue of the Agriculture Magazine