Two strains of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, were developed through mass and pedigreed selection techniques. Performance of the mass-selected line has been tested against a control and commercial lines used by the farmers. On station testing indicated an improvement of 35% over the control, the base population, from which the selected O. niloticus stock was developed. In an initial farm trial, the improved O. niloticus stock performed 51% better than the commercial line that is regularly distributed by a commercial hatchery to the local farmers. Additional farm testing of the mass-selected line is still in progress. The mass-selected line is currently being evaluated against the pedigree selected line. The best candidates will be identified and used in the pedigree selection program.

From the practical work and applied research work in the field of marine shrimp farming, this Standard Operating Procedure (S.O.P) was developed. This S.O.P. documents actual procedures being used at the time of its production. It will be used both as a guide for current hatchery and farm operations and as a tool to allow the identification of areas where improvements can be made. These improvements will gradually be incorporated into the updated S.O.P. All Hatchery and farm division staff should read and understand this S.O.P.It is hoped that this S.O.P will partly help solve the problems encountered in shrimp farming and contribute towards better marine shrimp management and a more sustainable farming industry.