Mike - according to the three individuals that I have talked to at TPWD and the one individual at TX Dept of Agriculture -- this situation is this: Mossies will not survive in Texas waters year round, therefore they are allowed for personal stocking in either private ponds as forage fish or in self-contained systems (like AP systems). There is NO exotic species permit required. However, you will need an exotic species permit if you want to keep Nile, Blue or any hybrid that contains part of either of those species. Any fish that contains any percentage of the T. hornorum species of Tilapia is strictly forbidden and highly illegal.

So in short - if you are going to be raising these fish for personal consumption in private system, you do not need any specific type of permit or such. But you are correct, if you want to sell the fish you will need to apply for a formal "Aquaculture" license from the TX Dept of Agri. If you do so, and still want to raise Mossies, you will still not need an exotic permit. But at that point, you might as well go ahead and spend the extra $50 per year and be able to raise the Nile or a hybrid that has a better growth rate and max size...

I am not claiming any omniscient perfection here, but that is the way it was explained to me when I did my research a few months ago... I would of course, urge you to confirm everything on your own before trusting my words as gospel... But that being said as a disclaimer - I am going to follow what I was told.

Phoenix