GenoMar completes five-year mission to import tilapia to Colombia
Fish from Philippines will be used as parent stock for commercial fingerlings
Tilapia fingerlings supplier GenoMar has successfully imported its top genetics lines into Columbia from its specific pathogen free (SPF) breeding centre in the Philippines, the company has announced.
The fish will be grown to maturation and serve as the parent stock for commercial fingerlings to Colombian fish farmers. The deliveries are expected to happen in the third quarter of 2023.
The milestone move follows a five-year-long process to get approvals from the regulatory authority in Colombia – the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) - and the establishment of GenoMar Genetics Colombia in 2021. The company is a joint venture with Agroavícola Sanmarino S.A., which is a Colombian poultry genetics distribution company belonging to the Italcol Group, and GenoMar Genetics Group.
“I am extremely satisfied with reaching this milestone which takes us one step further into our effort of expanding our presence in the major tilapia markets in the American continent,” said GenoMar Genetics Group chief executive Alejandro Tola Alvarez.
Never giving up
“I want to congratulate our teams and partners in the Philippines and Colombia for persevering and never giving up on this complex process.”
The importation took place on January 12, and the fish were quarantined for 30 days before being released to GenoMar.
“We have a lot of interest and expectation in the market right now. I believe that the 30 years’ breeding work on the GenoMar strain will have a positive impact on improving tilapia production in Colombia. We will start R&D trials very soon,” said Martin Cordero Ordóñez, general manager of GenoMar Genetics Colombia.
GenoMar is a subsidiary of German poultry and aquaculture breeding specialist EW Group, which also owns Norway and Scotland salmon breeder AquaGen.
