Salt-water tolerant tilapia tastes better

Tilapia grow fast, can live in crowded conditions and are cheap to produce.

But the freshwater fish is often shunned by consumers because of the muddy taste of its flesh.

Singapore's largest fish farmer is working with scientists here to breed salt-water tolerant tilapia, in a move that could boost food sustainability here and help Singapore meet its target of raising local fish production from 4 per cent of domestic demand to 15 per cent.

Unlike the earthy-tasting flesh of its freshwater cousin, the saltwater variety has a clean taste that has gone down well with wholesalers, who have snapped up more than 400kg of the farm’s first batch.

This new saltwater-tolerant breed could boost food sustainability here.