Tilapia, that is native to Africa and Middle East, has emerged from mere obscurity to one of the most productive and internationally traded food fish in the world. The farming of tilapias in its crudest form is believed to have originated more than 4,000 years ago from Egypt. The first recorded scientifically oriented culture of tilapia was conducted in Kenya in 1924 and soon spread throughout Africa. Tilapia was later transplanted and became established as a potential farmed species by the late 1940s in the Far East and a decade later spread in the Americas.