STORY: In the southern Chinese city of Maoming, tilapia is a way of life for thousands of people.
The scale of tilapia production here is staggering.
An area roughly one and a half times the size of San Francisco is dedicated to farming the humble fish.
Fish nurseries and feedlots keep the farms supplied and sixteen factories, in turn, churn tilapia into fillets for export, much of it to the United States.
However, when Reuters traveled to Maoming in late April, that ecosystem was at a near standstill because of the trade war.
Round after round of tariffs mean China’s $425 million in tilapia exports to the United States face duties of 170%.
That has all but priced them out of their largest export market.
Zhu is a veteran fish buyer for several processing plants, which previously sold 60% of their tilapia to the U.S.
“Of course it’s having an impact. They are all saying if this keeps going, everyone will go bankrupt.”
While markets exist elsewhere – they can’t quickly or fully replace U.S. demand.
People in the industry say the local market isn’t a viable alternative either: consumers are cautious and spending is slow.
On the outskirts of the city, workers wade through shallow ponds, scooping up newly hatched tilapia fry.
The tiny fish are usually in high demand this time of year as farmers restock their ponds.
But fish farmer Bi Fuxiang says orders are scarce this spring.
Tilapia prices are still down 7% since the trade war and are dangerously low, according to traders like Huang Songfei.
He’s worked with tilapia since he was a kid.
But now, he’s wondering if he should jump ship, before it’s too late.
“So in our fish farming groups, we’re all talking — ‘With tariffs like this, should we even keep farming tilapia or just give up?’ It’s tough, right?”
“If we lower the price any further, the farmers will be losing too. So now we’re stuck — no way forward, no way back.”
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