One of the earliest projects initiated by His Majesty the King was fish culture and fish farming in the year 1952 when His Majesty graciously commanded the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture,
to culture Pla Mo Tet (Tilapia mossambica) in the ponds on the grounds of Chitralada Villa, Dusit Palace.
And on November 7, 1953, His Majesty the King presided over a ceremony to present Pla Mo Tet from the Chitralada ponds to village headmen from all over the country in oder to introduce fish culture and fish farming to the population.
Later on, in March 1965, His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Akihito of Japan presented another species of Tilapia, native to the River Nile, to His Majesty the King. The fish fry numbering 50 in all which were released into special ponds in the grounds of Chitralada Villa
reproduced very rapidly and on March 17th. B.E. 2509 (A.D. 1966) His Majesty was graciously pleased to present 10,000 "Pla Nil" (Tilapia Nolotica) fish fry to the Department of Fisheries to be cultured prior to releasing into waterways and given to the general public throughout the Kingdom.
His Majesty has also been pleased to danate 500,000 Tilapia Nolotica fish fry to the People's Republic of Bangladesh under the Food From Hunger Campaign of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund at the request of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
As the "Pla Nil" were easy to breed and grew in size unusually fast, His Majesty the King was graciously pleased to increase the number of fish ponds in the grounds of Chitralada Villa, Dusit Palace, and would release fish fry into each new pond such as on December 7, 1969 when he released Tilapia Nolotica fish fry into the ninth pond.
On September 10th. B.E. 2524 (A.D. 1981), His Majesty the King, accompanied by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, presided over the opening ceremony of the National Institute of Coastal Aquaculture (NICA) in Songkhla Province.
The goal of the institute is to find ways to increasw the breeding and the production of fish in brackish water so as to keep up with the growth in demestic demand.
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