Acquisition of Wild Nile Tilapia Germplasm from Africa. In 1988 and 1989, ICLARM and its partners and helpers collected germplasm of four wild strains of Nile tilapia across its natural range through visits to Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Sénégal. More than 2,000 fish were shipped, some via intermediate holding facilities at the University of Hamburg, to a purpose-built quarantine facility at NFFTC. The collection and shipment of tilapia germplasm involved collaboration and coordination of international assistance (para. 10). These introductions were the first direct and well-documented acquisitions of wild tilapia germplasm in Asia since 1962, apart from one other introduction of Nile tilapia from Sudan to the PRC in 1978 (footnote 12).