Third world countries like the Philippines should cash in on the growing market for the aquaculture of the once lowly tilapia.

It is a fish that is now gaining worldwide acceptance, according to a report of the Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

The report said aquaculture production of tilapia amounted to some 1,265,800 tons in 2000.

It said international trade is limited but is growing, especially between Central American producers, namely, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia, and the United States, and between Asian producers, namely Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand, and the United States and Japan.

There is also modest trade between Jamaica and the United Kingdom, it added.

The report said the largest exporter, Taiwan, supplies Japan with high-quality tilapia fillets for the sashimi market, and ships frozen tilapia to the United States market placed at 40,000 tons in 2001.

Taiwan, it said, exports about 70% of its domestic tilapia production.

Thailand and Indonesia export less than five percent of their production, the report revealed.

Viet Nam has also recently entered the world tilapia market, and China exported 12,500 tons to the United States in 2001.

Zimbabwe, the report said, now also produces fresh and frozen fillets for the EC market.

In the United States, the report said tilapia is now the third most imported aquaculture products by weight at 56,300 tons in 2001, after shrimp and salmon.

United States imports, it said, have been growing strongly and are forecast to grow further in the future.

The report noted that long-term tilapia prices are expected to decrease, and this should lead to increased exports to the United States, as well as to Europe which is still an undeveloped market for tilapia. (Asia Pulse Pte Limited)