Shrimp and Tilapia Value Chain Actors in Thailand: their Perceptions on Sustainability

This poster was presented during the PhD Research Conference at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, UK, 24 October 2012

Videos on value chain actors' perceptions on fish production and quality

The following videos were produced for the off-flavour in tilapia awareness workshops being conducted among small groups of tilapia producers, majority of whom have been part of the SEAT project surveys. This is part of the action research on off-flavour tilapia (WP9).

The first video is based on several interviews with various actors in the value chain. As it is a brief video, only the highlights of the issues related to tilapia quality and production are presented. Watch the video here.

The second video was filmed in Scotland, and edited here in Thailand to suit the purposes of the field workshop. It is about the perceptions of a restaurant owner and his observations of what his customers prefer in terms of fish consumption. Watch the video here.

All are in Thai audio and subtitles. The English version is being prepared as well.

Action research on off-flavour of tilapia

Flavour quality of tilapia was identified during the SEAT scoping surveys as one of the constraints in increasing tilapia exports and sustaining it. As European consumers have mentioned in interviews, flavour of fish is important to them, among other reasons. The way they eat fish is different from Asians, where they will just add some salt, with not much sauce or curry, so the flesh has to be of good quality and flavour. There is no room even for a small hint of off-flavour. Thus for action research, SEAT is looking at some ways of producing on-flavour tilapia to meet demand for exports. At the moment, only about 10% of tilapia produced in Thailand is exported, as there is a high domestic demand. Local tastes for tilapia have developed over the years, with supermarkets and wet markets offering a range of tilapia products, both live and frozen. Processors and exporters are aware of the lack of good quality tilapia to fill their orders, as sometimes they encounter off-flavour in the raw material. There might be a lack of awareness among producers of the importance of producing on-flavour fish for taste-discerning consumers. Thus a focus group discussion/workshop has been planned among selected groups of tilapia farmers from both freshwater and brackishwater areas, to understand their perspectives and aspirations in their tilapia operations, to determine their level of awareness about off-flavours, and to give them a voice in terms of their involvement in achieving production of on-flavour tilapia.

The first workshop was conducted end of June in Nakhon Pathom. This was attended by both men and women, and they actively participated in sharing their opinions on various topics such as: what makes a good quality tilapia, which quality equates to better price, what the consumer (esp European) wants, market situation, and tilapia production systems in other countries. 


Further workshops and field trial activities will engage not only producers but also other actors in the value chain, such as input providers, processors and brokers.