# tilapia



## jafl (Jun 3, 2009)

Anyone have an experience raising tilapia? They have naturalized downstate where it never gets cold enough to kills them. My part of the state is likely too cold for them to survive in the wild, but the state is paranoid about them and won’t let you grow them here if you don’t already have a fish farming operation in place. But raising tilapia may be something I’d consider if I ever move north of here.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

I am not a fish farmer, but I have been told by a fish farmer in Ohio who raises them that they grow quite fast and are a good cheap money maker for them. I guess they are quite hardy and have a mild flavor. Resturants sell them on their menues and make it sound like they are quite the special fish.


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## jafl (Jun 3, 2009)

sailaway said:


> I am not a fish farmer, but I have been told by a fish farmer in Ohio who raises them that they grow quite fast and are a good cheap money maker for them. I guess they are quite hardy and have a mild flavor. Resturants sell them on their menues and make it sound like they are quite the special fish.


I have never had tilapia from a restaurant and based on what I have had home-cooked I don't particularly care for it. Sometimes tilapia has a muddy taste- likely based on water quality and what the fish were fed just before they went to market, and it always has a mushy texture. I gave up wild-caught freshwater fish 30 years ago because of local water pollution (and I have never liked catfish) so I cannot say if tilapia is any different than any other freshwater fish is. But, if I were to grow tilapia myself it would be to sell or trade for cod or some other fish worth having.

Even though no part of Florida is more than 200 miles from the ocean seafood prices in the grocery stores/fish markets here are usually outrageous and restaurant prices for local species aren't any better. Whole tilapia that you have to clean and filet yourself can be up to $2 a pound and you cannot find filets from the grocery store for under $5 a pound. But I wonder if the retail price is an accurate reflection of production costs, or is tilapia priced based on what alternatives cost? Florida tilapia is usually just as much as imported cod and whiting is often cheaper.


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