Excellence In Aquaculture TILAPIA IMPORT UPDATE: SUPPLY TIGHTENING! In August, Western Edge sent out a report on the upcoming shortages of tilapia from China. As fall and winter approach, which have traditionally been the months of increased consumption of seafood products, the supply problems of Chinese Tilapia are only becoming more apparent. As the threat of the Malachite Green contamination increased, two agencies stepped up their inspections of possible problems. The first was the CIQ agency. This is the government inspection department of the Chinese government. It is equivalent to the US FDA. They began inspections of all farmed seafood outbound containers. If any containers from any processor were found to be in violation, the packer is put on automatic detention, and is not permitted to export out of the country. Once a packer is in that position, it is very hard to regain an export license. Therefore, packers are being extra careful in the packing of all products. In addition to the CIQ, the US FDA has stepped up their foreign inspection of plants and farms for possible violations. There have been many reports of the FDA showing up at plants, inspecting everything from HAACP plans to the glazing for net weights of products as well as contamination. This whole process has slowed down shipments on an average of 14 to 45 days. With the export volume decreasing because of violations, and an increase in consumption levels, we are now about to have a "perfect storm" in the Tilapia industry. The first signs of this increased pressure are being felt with catfish imports. The reason is that with the imported catfish, the volume is considerably less than Tilapia, as well as inventory levels. The average inventory level for Chinese catfish is anywhere between 30 to 60 days, with the Tilapia level being 90 to the 180 day range. The volume for catfish is less than 15% than that of Tilapia. So when the slowdown from increased inspections first began to occur, there was not enough catfish inventory build up in the US to buffer the slowdown in imports. This is being played out now with wholesalers scrambling to find a new catfish suppliers to fill their customers needs. We first reported this on August 12, alerting our customers to the upcoming possible increase in prices and shortfalls in Tilapia supply. Since that time, it is starting to become more apparent that this is indeed a fact for the future. Tilapia inventory levels are starting to be drawn down with new supply being slowed and tightened. We feel that this will become apparent from October forward. We supply you with this news not to alarm our customers in a ploy to increase there purchase at higher process but to keep you informed on the news we receive on an ongoing basis talking with these countries daily. We hope you use this information to make an informed decision when planning your purchase.