Seafood fans can argue for days about the best kind of fish and the ideal way to prepare it.
Some people say there’s nothing better than salmon sashimi. Others insist that the perfect meal involves grilling some red snapper, or even frying up grouper into tasty little bites.
Naturally, this is all a matter of opinion. But no matter which fish is your favorite, there’s one name in the fish world that makes seafood lovers raise an eyebrow: tilapia. But how did this fish get so controversial? And is it even real?
What’s The Deal With Tilapia?
In a video with over 1.6 million views, TikTok user Faye Epps (@fayeepps26) shows herself at a grocery store. She’s holding a package with two small, silver fish. The fish are labeled “tilapia.”
“Somebody told me that tilapia was not a real fish,” she says, turning the fish around in her hands. “This looks like a real fish to me.”
Epps isn’t the only one to reference the idea that tilapia isn’t “real.” A Reddit thread asked if tilapia was real or “scientifically manufactured,” and a meme is frequently passed around the internet claiming tilapia is boneless and cannot be found in the wild. So, what’s the truth?
Here’s Why Tilapia Is Weird
If you’re someone who loves fish, you’ve probably noticed that tilapia is, in fact, different from other fish. First, it’s often cheaper than other options. Second, upon cooking a whole tilapia, you’ll be delighted to learn that cleaning it is a breeze, as they have few intermuscular bones to remove (though they are, importantly, not boneless).
The reason that this fish is so common is largely due to aquaculture. As explained by WorldFish, tilapia has a variety of qualities that make it ideal for farming. It can be grown in a diverse array of environments and water qualities, it is omnivorous, it is hardy, and it reproduces incredibly quickly. Consequently, it can easily be bred—and selectively bred—to produce the ideal food fish.
This is why, unlike some other fish, which are caught in the wild, tilapia is typically farmed and imported. These imported fish are of varying quality, but they are all “real fish.”
The varying quality of tilapia is one of the reasons that the fish has developed a poor reputation. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch offers specific recommendations to find the best quality of tilapia. This involves being mindful of the fish’s origin and the exact species of tilapia one is purchasing.
Still, no matter which one you buy, you can be certain that the fish you’re purchasing is, in fact, “real.”
Buyers Say It’s Real
In the comments section, users noted that the fish known as tilapia is real.
“Tilapia is definitely a real fish. It’s native to the freshwater rivers and lakes of Africa and the Middle East,” explained a commenter. “The reason people think it’s ‘fake’ is because the U.S. primarily farms two of the fastest-growing tilapia species to help meet consumer demand and provide a more sustainable food source.”
It should be noted, however, that the majority of tilapia farming happens outside of the United States.
“My mom tried to tell me this at the beginning of her QAnon spiral and when I asked where she heard Tilapia aren’t real fish she said she saw it on Facebook,” offered another.
“They are real freshwater fish! People run with rumors. Not native to us and can be farm raised,” a third stated.
@fayeepps26
BroBible reached out to Epps via Instagram and TikTok direct message.