International Journal of Aquaculture, 2025, Vol.15, No.3, 135-148 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ija 135 Review and Progress Open Access Environmental and Genetic Factors Shaping the Global Expansion of Tilapia Aquaculture Liting Wang1 , Baohua Dong2 1 Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 57022, Hainan, China 2 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding author: liting.wang@hitar.org International Journal of Aquaculture, 2025, Vol.15, No.3 doi: 10.5376/ija.2025.15.0013 Received: 15 May., 2025 Accepted: 10 Jun., 2025 Published: 25 Jun., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wang and Dong, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wang L.T., and Dong B.H., 2025, Environmental and genetic factors shaping the global expansion of tilapia aquaculture, International Journal of Aquaculture, 15(3): 135-148 (doi: 10.5376/ija.2025.15.0013) Abstract As an important farmed fish in the world, tilapia has been widely cultivated in dozens of countries around the world due to its advantages of strong adaptability, rapid growth and low breeding costs. This study summarizes the effects of environmental and genetic factors on the expansion of tilapia farming territory. First, tilapia exhibits excellent ecological adaptability and has ecological plasticity such as wide temperature and salt. It can grow and reproduce normally under different temperature and salinity conditions, and adapt to high-density breeding and low-oxygen environments through regulating physiological mechanisms. Global climate change is changing the suitable areas for tilapia. Rising temperatures have extended the tilapia farming map to high latitudes, and is expected to further expand in tropical and subtropical areas, but extreme environments may bring new breeding risks. Genetic improvement plays a key role in the optimization of tilapia species. The application of high-growth strain breeding, disease-resistant molecular breeding and gender control technology has greatly improved the production performance and stress resistance of tilapia. Through case analysis of the development of tilapia industry in typical countries such as China, Egypt, and Brazil, the impact of environmental conditions and genetic improvement on industrial layout is revealed. Finally, we will discuss the ecological invasion risks faced by global expansion of tilapia, the environmental pressures of high-density breeding and genetic pollution risks, and look forward to the application prospects of technologies such as precise breeding, gene editing, and intelligent breeding in improving the sustainable breeding of tilapia. This study aims to provide scientific basis and decision-making reference for the global layout and sustainable development of tilapia farming. Keywords Tilapia; Ecological adaptability; Climate change; Genetic improvement; Sustainable breeding 1 Introduction Tilapia (various species of Oreochromis) is native to Africa. It has been widely introduced to breed around the world for its fast growth, mixed food, strong reproductive ability and wide adaptability, and enjoys the reputation of "chicken in water". After decades of development, tilapia has become the third largest breeding catfish in the world, second only to carp and grass carp, and is farmed in more than 100 countries and regions around the world (Vicente and Fonseca-Alves, 2013). In 2018, the global tilapia farming output was about 4.5 million tons, accounting for nearly 10% of the world's total aquaculture fish production that year. China is the world's largest producer and exporter of tilapia, with annual output stable at 1.6 million to 1.7 million tons in recent years, accounting for nearly one-third of the global total output (Mohamad et al., 2021). The development of tilapia fish farming not only provides cheap and high-quality animal protein in developing countries, but also an important pillar for the livelihood of fishermen in many regions. Despite the significant economic value and production potential of tilapia, the global aquaculture industry also faces many challenges in its rapid expansion. The impact of environmental factors on the tilapia farming map is becoming increasingly prominent. Increased water temperatures caused by climate change and the increase in extreme weather events are changing the appropriate distribution areas of tilapia; some high-latitude areas with low temperatures still face the problem of water temperatures lower than the tolerance range of tilapia in winter, and need to overcome the problem of overwintering. Water resources and water environmental conditions are also important factors that limit the expansion of tilapia farming. High-density farming may lead to problems such as
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