Aquaculture genetics research in Egypt

Abstract

Fish production in Egypt has significantly increased over the last few years reaching 546 000 t in 1998 compared to 306 000 t in 1988. The contribution of aquaculture in the overall fish production has increased as well reaching its utmost share in 1998 (26%). Research on aquaculture topics was conducted in several institutes targeting the increase of productivity as well as working on problems facing this promising sector. However, research on fish genetics in Egypt only started in recent years. The genetic improvement of tilapias and African catfish represents the focus of most genetics research in Egypt. This paper presents the status of genetics research within the International Network on Genetics in Aquaculture and in other national institutes in Egypt.