IT’S been seven years since the Northern Marianas College started promoting tilapia-raising as an alternative livelihood, but to date only three commercial farms on Saipan are into this type of business.
What the community hasn’t realized is that there’s potential wealth in raising tilapia, authorities said.
Tilapia is very popular in the U.S. particularly Hawaii, making it the third top imported aquaculture product in the country, according to Anthony C. Benavente, an aquaculture specialist at NMC’s Cooperative Research, Extension & Education Service.
On Saipan, a number of hotels are actually looking for suppliers to regularly provide them with fresh tilapia, Benavente said.
“As far as I know, it’s (tilapia business) pretty profitable among commercial producers here. People buy it all the time. It’s just a matter of actually producing more,” Benavente said.
“A lot of hotels tell me they would love to get tilapia, but the problem is the consistency,” he added.
The aquaculture specialist said CREES is ready to provide technical support to entrepreneurs and farmers interested in venturing into the tilapia business.
There are many systems that people can use to grow tilapia fingerlings. However, CREES promotes the use of concrete tanks to protect the fish in case of typhoons or heavy rains.
According to CREES, an estimated $2,300 start-up capital is needed to build a fish tank with a 12-ft. diameter, including a pump—this price would still vary depending on available resources such as manpower. Benavente said this is the ideal measurement of a container to grow tilapia.
The concrete aboveground tanks that CREES promotes is equipped with filters so that the water can be recycled. Benavente said tilapia growers usually use rainwater or CUC-water for the tank.
“This tank is very efficient. You don’t waste water. At the same time, it protects the environment. There are filters attached to the tank so you can recycle water because we understand that water is very important on the island,” Benavente said.
Every six months, a 12-ft. tank can easily produce 500 pounds of fish, according to CREES.
“We advise farmers to use aboveground concrete tanks. The reason why we do that is because we’re pretty much in the path of typhoon so we want farmers to build their tanks sturdy so at least when there’s typhoon their investment won’t go down the drain,” Benavente said.
CREES raises its own red hybrid tilapia fingerlings at the NMC campus. These fish are not for commercial purpose. However, faculties and students can buy them.
Benavente said fingerlings imported from Guam or Hawaii are available on island. Feeds are also readily available in selected stores.
A tilapia usually grows by a pound in six months, the aquaculture specialist said, at which time, commercial growers are advised to sell them because it is more expensive to raise them after that period.
“They grow by a pound in six months. After six months, it starts to be more expensive to raise them because their growth slows down. So that’s the reason why you should (sell) them after six months,” Benavente said.
Tilapia is not so popular among the indigenous people in the community but rather among Asians living and working on the islands.
Benavente admits that one of the obstacles facing tilapia business in the community is the misconception about it.
“One of our main obstacles was the locals’ negative impression about tilapia. Not all locals but some. They think it’s a dirty fish. But it’s not,” Benavente said.
“We want to promote tilapia consumption so that eventually the residents would change their mentality about tilapia,” he added.
CREES is continuously fighting this misconception. To start off, the college will be hosting the first Tilapia Cook-Off contest on July 11 in the hope of making the fish more popular in the community.
