Tilapia is the generic name of a group of cichlids endemic to Africa. Tilapia has become one of the most commonly eaten fish in North America. It is currently the fourth most frequently eaten fish in the United States. It is the third most popular farm raised seafood. Part of the popularity of tilapia stems from the fact that it is easily farmed. This makes it more economical. It is also fairly mild in taste and is easy to prepare.
Tilapia is a fresh water fish but has the ability to survive in brackish waters. Some of the things that make this particular fish easy to farm is the fact that it has a high tolerance to poor water quality and that they eat a wide range of natural food organisms. One of the constrains to farming them is their inability to to withstand sustained water temperatures below 50 to 52 Fahrenheit.
Tilapia is thought to be the oldest farm raised fish in the world. Stories from biblical scholars suggest it was the fish used by Jesus to feed the
…show more content…
This prompted me to research the health benefits and the disadvantages of buying and preparing farm raised tilapia. There were definitely some learned facts that would make one question whether or not they really ever wanted to consume a fish that was not caught in the open sea. Farm raised fish (not just tilapia) are said to have a much lower lever of Omega fats. Many farmed fish are being fed genetically modified corn and soy. Because farmed fish are raised in close quarters it makes them more susceptible to disease and illnesses. One serious problem that is reoccurring in farmed fish is sea lice. Sea lice are parasites that occur naturally on many different fish but due to the condition of being farm raised they spread faster and even fish in the open ocean passing by the the farms are being infected. This in turn effects other fish in the ocean. The fish are often given pesticides to combat sea