tilapia in ponds, which led to excessive recruitment, stunting and a low percentage of marketable-sized fish, dampened the initial enthusiasm for tilapia as a food fish. The development of hormonal sex-reversal techniques in the 1970s represented a major breakthrough that allowed male monosex populations to be raised to uniform, marketable sizes. In addition, research on nutrition and culture systems, along with market development and processing advances, led to rapid expansion of the industry s