In some areas of the Pearl River Basin, many tilapia can be said to be flooded and unattended.
Is the tilapia that has been introduced with such a hard time?
In fact, it is not, tilapia in the mainland can be said to be the most tragic invasive species after crayfish.
Tilapia
Why is tilapia so popular? How to explain that tilapia is eaten without "dignity"? Why is there a large number of tilapia in the Ming River, but it seems that there is not enough to eat? What other invasive species can be considered the most tragic?
Why is tilapia popular?
Tilapia is native to Africa and is a tropical fish, and because it looks very much like our country's crucian carp, it is also called "African crucian carp".
However, it does not have many small spines like crucian carp, and unlike the four major fish in our country, tilapia does not have intermuscular spines.
Therefore, a whole tilapia basically has only one large thorn, and after the head and tail are removed, it is rich in fish meat.
Tilapia with fewer spines
So one of the most popular aspects of tilapia is that it has very few spines and a lot of meat, and it doesn't have to be eaten so carefully.
This can be said to satisfy the habit of many people abroad to eat fish, especially in the United States.
If you look at how they are overwhelmed by the Asian carp, you should be able to imagine their joy at seeing the tilapia.
Asian carp
Of course, tilapia is so popular not only because it has less thorns and more meat, but also because of its taste and extremely nutritious characteristics.
- Tilapia has a high nutritional value
The meat of high-quality tilapia is very tender, and it will not be too much meat, and the taste is very delicious.
It is rich in protein content and essential amino acids.
Its protein content is 30% higher than that of eggs, and at the beginning our country also valued its protein content before it was introduced.
Japan even calls tilapia "a protein source that does not need protein", these rich proteins can not only provide us with enough energy, but also effectively improve our body's immunity, regulate hormones and so on.
Rich in protein, tilapia meat
For many fitness enthusiasts, protein can effectively help them increase their muscle content and develop a strong body.
We have nine essential amino acids in our body, namely lysine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, isoleucine, leucine, valine and histidine.
The essential amino acid content of tilapia accounts for 50.45%-51.57% of the total amino acids, and the distribution of these amino acids is relatively balanced, but the content of lysine is the highest, while the content of tryptophan is lower.
These essential amino acids can be effectively absorbed by the body, especially lysine can make up for the deficiencies in cereals.
amino acid
In addition, the fat content of tilapia is also very small, and unlike the saturated fatty acids contained in most animals, 53.6%-57.9% of the fat of tilapia is unsaturated fatty acids.
It is conducive to reducing human blood lipids and activating blood vessels, and is of great help to reduce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
In addition to these, tilapia is rich in trace elements such as calcium, iron, zinc and B vitamins, which can effectively improve the body's metabolism.
The National Healthy Diet Guidelines also list tilapia as one of the best options for aquaculture, which was issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tilapia is full of treasure
In just over two decades, such delicious tilapia has managed to squeeze into the top four seafood in the United States, known as the best seafood after shrimp, tuna and salmon.
At present, the mainland is the largest producer and exporter of tilapia, but in fact, from the import of tilapia to the mainland, there is still a long black history.
Tilapia invaded China
Mozambique tilapia was first introduced from Singapore in Mainland Taiwan, and later in 1966.
The people of Taiwan Province crossed male Nile tilapia and female Mozambican tilapia to obtain a new breed of "Fushou fish".
Fukushou fish
In the 1950s, the mainland introduced Mozambican tilapia from Thailand and Vietnam respectively, but the farming effect at that time was not good, so it was not promoted nationwide.
Until the end of the 1970s, Nile tilapia was introduced from Thailand and also crossed into "Fu Shou Fish".
At that time, due to the problems in the waters of the Pearl River, in addition to placing tilapia in fish farms, some were also released to the waters of the Pearl River.
Pearl River waters
However, this release has caused the local fish in the Pearl River to suffer, and the local fish have been in a state of deep water due to the pollution and overfishing of local water quality.
As a result, a group of tilapia with strong reproductive ability and adaptability came to compete with them for territory, and the native fish could be said to be living a miserable life.
To say how strong the viability of tilapia is, not only can it live normally in a low-oxygen environment, but also do not pick water quality, almost have water to live. Its reproductive ability is also super strong, and it can lay 1500-2000 eggs at a time.
The key is that after spawning, it will wrap the eggs in the mouth and hatch, which can greatly improve the survival rate of the eggs, and it can hatch into small fish in less than a week.
Tilapia pups
These highly surviving tilapia quickly crowd out the living space of local fish, and sometimes eat the eggs laid by local fish, and the number of local fish gradually decreases.
As a result, the continent has also listed the Nile tilapia as one of the invasive species.
Is tilapia popular in China?
As for why there are obviously enough tilapia on the mainland, but it still feels that it is not enough, and the problem of increasing the range of aquaculture is ultimately the living environment of tilapia in China.
Mainland tilapia should be divided into three types, one is wild tilapia in some water with good water quality, one is wild tilapia in poor water quality environments, and the other is tilapia kept in fish farms.
The quality of tilapia is inseparable from water quality
For those tilapia that live in poor water quality, people can say that they are scornful.
Many people eat these water-quality tilapia and say that they have a strange earthy smell, which is not at all as delicious as advertised.
These strange flavors cannot be concealed even with condiments, and the point is that the tilapia living in these waters has been contaminated and may still have a large number of bacteria in its body.
So for a long time, people had a deep misunderstanding of tilapia.
There are many bacteria in the body of tilapia
However, with the contact with tilapia in the fish farm, people gradually changed their views on it.
The first is that the quality of the fish in the fish farm is guaranteed, at least the quality of the fish meat is passable, and it can maintain its proper nutritional content.
Since tilapia can only grow at temperatures of 16°C-38°C, the culture of tilapia on the mainland is now mainly concentrated in the southern coastal areas of Fujian, Hainan, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong.
Especially the temperature in Hainan is also a heavenly existence for tilapia.
Hainan is a paradise for tilapia
The tilapia in these farms needs to meet not only the domestic market, but also the foreign market, especially the United States.
Once the United States imported almost half of China's total exports, it was clear that they really liked tilapia.
In fact, mainlanders have not fully recognized tilapia, but the demand has increased a lot compared with previous years.
In addition to the popularity of tilapia in these fish farms, wild tilapia grown in excellent water quality are also loved by everyone.
Wild tilapia
Chinese have always preferred to eat wild fish, because these fish living in the wild have not been fed feed or taken medicine. The taste will also be more delicate and green and healthy.
The key point is that the water quality of these waters has been tested to meet high water quality standards, so there are basically no quality problems with the tilapia grown here.
However, people in different regions have different understandings of tilapia, such as coastal areas are very familiar with tilapia, and they like to eat it.
But like the inland areas, they are relatively unfamiliar with tilapia and often just try it out.
However, in general, tilapia is still thriving in China and has not caused a big invasion problem.
Tilapia is an indispensable dish on the Chinese table
Other invasive species
In addition to tilapia and crayfish, there are several invasive species on the mainland that are also eaten and need to be farmed to survive, without "dignity".
Now we can see the beautiful frog fish head hot pot restaurant everywhere on the street, and the beautiful frog is the invasive species - bullfrog.
All bullfrogs sold on the market are now farm-owned, and wild bullfrogs are rare.
bullfrog
This species that originally ate frogs has now become a plate meal, and its fate is almost the same as that of crayfish.
However, not all invasive species can be eliminated by Chinese, such as the scavengers living in the Pearl River Basin that are not necessarily liked to be eaten, and it also causes great harm to native fish.