They are turning it redder or to flaming red.
“To make it more attractive to the growing market of this variant of the tilapia species,” said Dr. Tereso Abella, leader of the “Genetic Enhancement of the Red Nile Tilapia Breeding Program” of the CLSU- FAC. “It is also meant to entice more producers of this fish strain,” he added.
The program is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), which posited that there is an emerging market for red tilapia because of its appealing color.
PCAARRD in its “Siyensaya Fair” last year at the University of Los Baños in Laguna (UPLB), showcased the red tilapia to attract and inform the public, particularly the entrepreneurs, on the burgeoning prospect for this tilapia strain.
For one, there is a niche market for red tilapia, particularly the Chinese gourmands who associate the red color with luck, PCAARRD officials said.
Mutant tilapia
The red tilapia appeared in the aquaculture industry only in the 1960’s when Taiwan produced a mutated cross between the species Mozambique tilapia and a normal tilapia nilotica. Then in the 1970’s, three variants of these red-colored tilapia were produced in Florida, USA; Israel, and also in Taiwan. The species found its way to the Philippines from Singapore in 1978.
Its development in the country, however, was described as slow because of lack of its fingerlings. Also, the growers were not readily enticed for its commercial production because of its relatively slower growth for commercial production.
The tilapia, which number around a hundred species, are predominantly dark in color They originated exclusively from the African continent and from Palestine and were accidentally introduced to Java and from then on it found its way in the different parts of the globe.
Some call the fish “St. Peter Fish” and is believed to be the biblical fish that Jesus Christ multiplied with some loaves of bread to feed some 5,000 people.
A newspaper in Wales, United Kingdom, in a front page story some years back, called the genetically manipulated tilapia produced here, “superfish” which, it said, is the modern equivalent of the biblical fish. The development of the “superfish,” undertaken in collaboration with the University of Swansea in Wales and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) was presented by officials of the CLSU-FAC in an international conference in Wales in 1996.
In the Philippines, the tilapia was introduced for the first time in the early 1950s for commercial production but was not generally accepted by the consumers because of its dark color. That tilapia was the Mozambique strain.
In 1970, a new strain, the Nile tilapia or tilapia nilotica, which has a lighter color, was introduced. That started the popularity of this freshwater fish in the country.
Relentless researches in the country, particularly on its breed and various cultural practices, resulted in the surged in popularity of this fish. One exciting research result was the super tilapia, thru what is called as “YY-male technology”. It was dubbed as “aquatic chicken” when it was presented in a United Nations assembly.
Tilapia production in the country, according to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, now ranks fourth in the world behind China, Eqypt and Indonesia.
It was only recently that certain degree of attention was given to the red tilapia, believed to be a mutant or a near albino, a condition in which there is an absence of melatonin in the skin.
Currently, the red tilapia in the market appears to be pinkish with stripes or dots of black.
“For purposes of our research work, we got our variant of the Red Nile tilapia from the Institute of Sterling in the United Kingdom,” Abella, who is also CLSU vice president for academic affairs, said.
“We are exploring the use of caretenoid pigments found in plants to enhance the pigmentation in the skin of the fish,” he added.
The meat, though, remains cotton white.
He said caretenoids are added in the formulated diet of the fish. They are from the annatto seeds, tomatoes, carrots and yellow corn, he added.
Prof. Rodora Bartolome, head of the research team, said her team is currently evaluating other sources of caretenoids for the whole make-up of the red tilapia. These sources, she said, are sweet potato, jute leaves, and horse radish for improving growth, body composition, feed utilization, immune response, and fecundity of the red tilapia.
Later studies, Abella said, will include broodstock development, correct culture and hatchery operations.
“Fingerlings of this flaming red tilapia will be distributed later on to interested fish growers,” Abella said.
The red tilapia, it was learned, sells at P130 to P150 a kilogram. The common Nile tilapia is sold in the market at P90 to P100 a kilogram.
