ABSTRACT
The utilization of ponds for growing fish is not a novel concept, and in fact, it antedates recorded history. Early records indicate that the Chinese produced food fish in ponds some 2500 years ago, although the exact beginning of this practice is not known (Edminster, 1947; Landau, 1992). The Romans utilized fish ponds in the first century a.d., not only to raise food fish but also to raise fish for stocking in natural lakes and other ponds (Edminster, 1947). Bas-relief sculpture found in Egyptian tombs apparently depict pond culture of tilapia around 2500 b.c. (Landau, 1992).
