Generation of valuable transgenic fish with desirable phenotypes has potential implications for food production as well as many other bio-industries. Transgenic engineering of fish genome would provide a quantum leap over traditional selection and breeding methods by offering the powerful means to increase the efficiency of farming practices with desired traits. With this purpose, research with a wide spectrum of success has been in progress for the past two decades to generate valuable transgenic fish strains. Transgenic manipulations have already made an important contribution in all disciplines fisheries sciences and aquaculture, however, commercial application of transgenic fish strains is still complicated by many scientific and social issues. Here this mini-review introduces briefly the historical background, principle, current status and perspective of transgenic manipulation in fish.