i'd be one of the last people to call for complete political correctness... but there has been a problem with cross forum chatter where people take simple slightly heated discussions and twist them into something that they aren't.

but you're right, the only comparison in the taste catagory to tilapia is bass here in the states... it's hard to find a decently priced clean tasting fish... lake perch, walleye and catfish all have a distinct taste... to find a fish that will taste differently depending on how it's cooked can be an expensive meal, even when cooked at home... now tilapia might bit drive as high of a price per pound as the smallmouth or striped bass do... but as it's been stated, the tolerance of water conditions makes it easier to raise tilapia... in most cases cheeper too... the only problem i could see with the tilapia in the northern states is having to heat the water... where im at the temperature in the summer is above good enoughfor them tilapia... but in the winter... good luck buddy... that's why i think taking the financial hit for better water quality and raising lake perch would be a better fit up here... their tolerance for water temperature is close to insane... lake erie is the shallowest of the great lakes... in the winter the water is below freezing (most years) and in the summer it has been recorded to get up around the high 70's... and the best part about the lake perch is their appetite during the winter months is high enough to keep the ice fishermen busy. actually since the lake has failed to freeze the last few years the ice fishing industry (charter fishing trips and the associated hotel room stays) has been punished...

since most leafy greens do well in the lower temp's around 55-60 degrees F, heating would be lower for the perch raisers due to the fact that the perch will thrive at that water temp.

now take all of the perch's tolerances and factor in it's demand price... and you have a fish species that would do better on the market than tilapia could ever dream of doing up here... the only problem is once you start to get away from the great lakes region, farm raising this species becomes illegal due to the AG laws...

this is where the local markets and demographics have a big role to play.i pay an arm and a leg for perch for fish fries... and i live 20 minutes from the lake they're taken from... shipping the fillets or even the whole fish 200-300 miles might stnd to be worth the effort. and since where im at is a tourist driven industry, when people come to the lake they want to eat 2 things... walleye and perch. a cheep basket of perch with 5-6 miniscule deep fried fillets goes for around $15... go only knows what the restaurant is paying for them, and chances are, they were frozen... being able to supply fresh fish to upper scale restaurants would demand a higher price.

lol, really in a perfect world i'd like to raise walleye in a system... their market price is astronomical... but i'd have to raise the perch to feed to the walleye... lol... too messy.