Considering the consistency of both lengthweight
and length-age relationships between
Mississippi populations and native African
populations coupled with previous research on
this population (Peterson et al. 2004, 2005, 2006;
McDonald et al. 2007; Schofield et al. 2011), it
can be concluded that the tropical Nile tilapia
has successfully invaded a temperate climate
with multi-year survivorship. These data are
useful for state and federal permitting and management
agencies when making critical decisions
on approving specific species to culture and
citing new aquaculture facility locations (Schofield
et al. 2007). These results should especially
be taken into account in climatic transition
regions where the environmental conditions
could potentially allow for the establishment of
Nile tilapia upon introduction, particularly as the
global temperature is increasing.