Stardew Valley: How to Catch & Use Tilapia for Quests, Clothes, & More

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Learn how to catch Tilapia in this farm life simulation game

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: January 9, 2024 Fact Checked

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Catching Tilapia

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Tilapia Uses

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Are you looking to catch Tilapia in Stardew Valley? Whether you're trying to complete the "Aquatic Overpopulation" quest or you want to make a Sailor Shirt, you'll need to know where and when to catch your Tilapia. Tilapia can be caught in the ocean between 6am and 2pm, but keep reading this article to learn even more about what you can do with this fish.

Things You Should Know

You can only catch Tilapia in Summer or Fall unless you can access Ginger Island or have some Magic Bait.
If you selected the Beach Farm, you can catch Tilapia directly on your farm.
Tilapia is mostly used to complete one of Demetrius's quests or to make the Sailor Shirt.

Section 1 of 2:

Catching Tilapia

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Wait until Summer or Fall. Tilapia can be caught in either Summer or Fall during any type of weather. There are a few exceptions, however they either require game progression or gold:^{[1]
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- Tilapia can be caught on Ginger Island West or North during any season, but you must have Ginger Island unlocked to do this.
- If you have access to Qi's Walnut Room, you can buy Magic Bait that allows you to catch any fish regardless of the weather, time, or season. You can purchase Magic Bait for 5 Qi Gems, as well as the recipe for Magic Bait for 20 Qi Gems.^{[2]
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- Krobus will sometimes sell Tilapia in his shop on Wednesdays for 200 gold.
- You can also rarely find Tilapia for sale in the Traveling Cart for 225 to 1,000 gold.
You can only catch Tilapia between the hours of 6 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. If you have a Beach Farm, you can also catch Tilapia on your farm.

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Tilapia is not a particularly rare fish to catch, and has a Mixed behavior, which means it uses the basic movement pattern.

Section 2 of 2:

Tilapia Uses

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Three recipes can be made with Tilapia. However, these recipes do not require Tilapia specifically, so you may want to use your Tilapia for other purposes. The recipes you can use Tilapia in are as follows:^{[3]
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- Maki Roll: 1 Fish (any), 1 Seaweed, 1 Rice
- Quality Fertilizer: 1 Fish (any), 2 Sap
- Sashimi: 1 Fish (any)
Tilapia is one of the fish you must submit for the Ocean Fish Community Center Bundle in the Fish Tank.^{[4]
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If you put a Tilapia in the Sewing Machine, you can make a Sailor Shirt.^{[5]
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In the Summer, Demetrius may request 10 Tilapia for the "Aquatic Overpopulation" quest, which can be picked up via the Special Orders Board outside the Mayor's Manor.^{[6]
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Research source} Completing this quest will get you a reward of gold plus the recipe for the Farm Computer.
You can initially place 3 Tilapia in your Fish Pond, but if you complete three quests you can store up to 10. Tilapia will reproduce every 2 days. The only item you can harvest from Tilapia is Tilapia Roe, which is dark gray in color (not to be confused with Sturgeon Roe, which is black).^{[7]
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You can use Tilapia as a gift. While it's not an ideal use of the fish, you can give Tilapia as a gift to Demetrius, Elliot, Leo, Linus, Pam, Sebastian, and Willy, who will all have a neutral reaction to receiving this gift.
- All other villagers dislike or hate Tilapia as a gift, and you should avoid giving it to them.