GenoMar opens ‘state-of-the-art’ tilapia breeding and genetics center in Brazil

New center may improve the resilience of Brazilian tilapia industry and transform Brazil into an exporter of high-quality tilapia genetics

On October 21, GenoMar, an international aquaculture breeding and distribution company focusing on the global tilapia markets, officially opened a state-of-the-art tilapia breeding and genetics center in Brazil.

The dedicated breeding center took two years to construct and will be the first of its kind for tilapia species in the Latin America region. It will have sufficient capacity to manage GenoMar’s breeding programs, as well as to produce parent stock for its distribution operations. The new facility will enhance GenoMar’s distribution infrastructure in Brazil and support its expansion efforts in the region with Colombia and Mexico in the spotlight.

“This facility provides an ideal and safe home for our breeding programs in Latin America,” said Diones Almeida, Breeding Director at GenoMar Genetics Latin America. “It will significantly strengthen our ability to breed tilapia with optimal and predictable field performance for the Brazilian and international markets”

At this facility, leading tilapia geneticists and scientists will apply the latest technologies in selective breeding to continuously enhance favorable traits. This includes balanced breeding for growth rate, feed conversion rate, health and adaptability to global production environments, as well as increasing the fillet yield and quality of GenoMar brands and products.

The breeding centre has a high biosecurity level and an effective surveillance program for the most important tilapia pathogens worldwide. After obtaining official accreditation of its own quarantine facility in January 2022, the company is already working very closely with the respected Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) in Brazil to certify the facility as SPF and/or disease-free compartment in the future. It’s anticipated that this investment will increase the resilience of the Brazilian tilapia industry and transform Brazil into an exporter of high-quality tilapia genetics.

“The team has worked untiringly to develop a breeding center that complies with high-level biosecurity, good fish health and multiplication of high merit brood stock to the tilapia industry,” said Alejandro Tola Alvarez, CEO at GenoMar Genetics Group.