Photo credit: Andria Melissa Ochoa Rodas (Guatemala) Description: Andria Melissa Ochoa Rodas and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted picture shows an earthen pond while prepared for tilapia culture. The pond is in Escuintla which is located in south central Guatemala. As shown in the picture, heavy machinery are used in the preparation process that ultimately targets the lining of the pond with proper liner sheets of 12×20 m each.
Unlike shrimp farming in Guatemala which mainly targets the international markets, the internal consumption is the main target of tilapia aquaculture.
According to FAO, the interest in tilapia culture in Guatemala began in 2004, upon the construction of the Sabana Grande training and fish breeding station.
As reported in FAO statistics, total fish produced from Guatemala aquaculture amounted about 26,000 tons in 2017; out of which close to 10,000 tons belonged to tilapia. The strains of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) have been introduced into Guatemala from Mexico and USA over the years 2003 and 2004.