What to eat today? Tilapia!
What to eat in the morning? Tilapia!
What to eat at noon? gauze..
Often brainwashed by this tune recently, this "fish that China dedicated to the world" has been widely farmed around the world. In fact, the world's most farmed fish is still carp, and catfish has surpassed tilapia to become the world's second largest farmed fish, today Yi Ge for everyone to introduce the global catfish farming boom and rise.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, although in the past few years, carp is still the most farmed fish in the world Catfish has surpassed tilapia to become the second largest fish in the world.
However, catfish are a large family, according to statistics, there are about 3,000 kinds of catfish in the world, so if you simply say catfish, it may be different fish for people in different countries and regions.
Taxonomists claim there are more than 3,000 species of recognized catfish, and more are found and classified each year. They make up the order Catfish, which can be found on any continent except Antarctica.
Asian catfish farming leads the world
It is said that about one in every 10 species of fish is catfish, and one in every 20 species of vertebrates is catfish. The U.S. government's Integrated Classification Information System (IRIS) identified about 36 catfish families, which became catfish not so much because of its whiskers as because of its skull and swim bladder. While there are thousands of catfish species and hundreds of potential aquaculture products, this article will highlight several products that contribute to much of the global harvest.
Spotted forktail catfish and its hybrids
The North American spotted catfish (cratertail) was one of the first species of catfish to be commercially farmed.
Although U.S. farms have been breeding this species since the late 1920s, the industry really began in the southern United States in the late 1950s.
It expanded from Arkansas to the entire Mississippi Delta, and with the establishment of feed mills, the area under culture and catch continued to grow, and eventually, many processing plants developed throughout the region firmly established the industry as an economic force to be reckoned with. Most industries in the United States are now shifting to the production of a mixture of spotted forktail catfish and blue catfish, and the production method of fish ponds is becoming more and more intensive.
The spotted catfish can tolerate the cold winter temperatures, so it is widely introduced to temperate countries in South America, Asia and Europe. In fact, starting at about two years of age, it takes weeks to months of low temperatures to trigger its maturation and spawning. In 1984, this species was introduced to China, pond culture began in 1988, and industrial culture gradually formed in China.
The spotted forktail catfish offers a new option for Chinese fish farmers operating in temperate climates. Since 2010, the Chinese-produced . The spotted forktail catfish has surpassed the Species of the United States and its hybrids.
Over the past decade, China's production of spotted forktail catfish has increased from just under 200,000 tonnes to more than 300,000 tonnes. Blue catfish were also introduced to China in the 1980s, but to date, crossbreeding of blue catfish and spotted forktail catfish has not been widely cultured.
Unlike some catfish cultured in Asia and Africa, hybrid species of the spotted forktail catfish do not make full use of oxygen and therefore cannot tolerate prolonged or severe hypoxic conditions, which place high demands on fish pond density. Typical yields range from 8 to 11 tonnes per hectare per year, but some intensive pond systems have reported yields close to 17 tonnes per ha.
Basha fish
This is a kind of fish that is well known to us Chinese food lovers, a catfish widely cultivated in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, of which the most widely farmed is pangasianodon hyphophthalmus.
The advent of artificial feed has promoted the explosive growth of the bara fish farming industry
This tropical species is particularly suitable for farming in Vietnam. In 1997, Vietnam's first production from fao was 40 000 tonnes. By 2019, Vietnam reported production of 1.6 million tonnes. This growth trajectory has clearly driven the rise of catfish globally in recent years.
As with the cultivation of spotted catfish in the United States, industrial expansion in Vietnam and neighboring countries has also been driven by the supply and adoption of artificial feed and export processing facilities. These include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia. In recent years, production has also been reported in several Caribbean countries, and the species has reportedly been introduced to Brazil and Colombia for farming.
Facultative breathing air, basa fish can be intensively cultured in ponds, which is done through a daily water exchange of 20 to 40 percent in most production operations in Vietnam. Production ponds are usually 4 metres deep and yield about 300 tonnes per hectare per crop cycle of 6-8 months.
Clarias and their hybrids
There are currently several catfish in the world that belong to clarias, but the most recognized is probably c. gariepinus. Named after the Kerip River, which depicts the southern part of South Africa's natural mountains, the species spreads across much of Africa, the Middle East, and northward into Eastern Europe. It is described as having the widest latitude range of all freshwater fish (about 70 degrees). Due to its adaptability, c. gariepinus has been widely introduced to many countries beyond its native range – including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Nepal, the Netherlands and the Philippines.
Across the continent, the edibility of this fish is no longer a major obstacle to the future growth of the industry, and there is already a certain consumption base.
Some of the larger hatchery operators in Nigeria and elsewhere use intensive recirculation systems to produce high-quality fingerlings in large quantities. However, fingerling availability and quality are still considered constraints on the expansion of agricultural activities in many African countries. Because c. gariepinus kill each other, fingerlings must be strictly graded when stocked, at least once during growth.
Because there is a subsidiary respiratory organ, this species is suitable for high-density production in static tanks (with one or two water changes per week) and circulatory systems. The production of culture through the recirculation system can exceed 1 000 kg/m3 per year (regular partial harvest).
With rising living standards and continued growth in consumer numbers, the African catfish industry is expected to expand significantly over the next decade. As is the case in other regions, an increase in the supply of artificial feed should help drive this growth. However, processing plants may be far away from the future for this industry, as traditional value chains are still sufficient to provide fresh and smoked products to consumers in rural and urban markets.
African catfish production continues to attract investment from within and outside the continent. A Czech company recently invested in a modern catfish hatchery in Cameroon, and the Tanzanian government signed an agreement with the International Fund for Agricultural Development to support the production of 10 million catfish fingerlings per year in the country's 15 development centres. Many other projects to promote industrial expansion are underway in many countries.
Another clarias species, C. batrachus, is widely cultured in thailand and surrounding areas. The range of this species is apparently closely related to overlapping c.magur and two species or subspecies that may not be described but different, from Bengal to Borneo. C. batrachus may not be as hardy as its African cousins, but it thrives throughout tropical Southeast Asia.
South American catfish
Many catfish species with aquaculture potential can be found in South America. Most are tropical plants, many grow quickly and are suitable for artificial reproduction.
genus pseudoplatystoma, this catfish has been widely commercialized, and ongoing research is helping the industry grow rapidly. This species is also important in several other countries, notably Brazil.
These fish usually grow to 1.5 to 2 kg in 12 months. Hybridization is relatively easy because artificial spawning methods are well documented and easy to implement. This fish is more expensive to raise than most catfish because of their relatively high food protein requirements.
Most of this catfish is cultured in ponds, but these fish can adapt to the conditions of growth on runways and cages, as well as in circulating nursery ponds.
Rhamdia quelen, this catfish has been a research and development focus in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. This species prefers food to plant proteins. It can adapt to a wide range of temperatures, but works best in mild subtropical regions.
The future of catfish farming?
Like carp, catfish are a diverse group of species, many of which are suitable for farming. And, as is the case with tilapia and many other species, as commercial feed becomes more widespread in places like Africa and South America, we can expect to see more and more catfish aquaculture in these regions.
Will global catfish farming production lead the way for tilapia? Will they eventually compete with carp for global supremacy? Let's wait and see!