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).