![]() In Chesapeake Bay, vast stretches of prolific oyster grounds supported a large public fishery until the late 19th century, reducing the interest in developing aquaculture techniques. ![]() Advances in containment system design have facilitated the expansion of aquaculture into offshore waters (Goulletquer and Héral, 1997). Production of oyster seed in hatcheries has allowed greater control of reproductive output and initiated the use of selectively bred oyster strains. The most recent advance is the introduction of hatchery production in the 1980s (Jones and Jones, 1982 Chew, 1984). The development of new techniques for using spat collectors to control spat supply was key to the development of aquaculture production during the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the true development of oyster culture in Europe was initiated during the 18th century to sustain the harvest after increased fishing effort depleted the natural beds and fishing regulations failed to halt the precipitous decline in oyster landings. For instance, the Romans built ponds to stockpile the harvest and collected spat on wooden branches (Clark, 1964 Héral and Deslous-Paoli, 1991). Oyster culture has been practiced since ancient times. These statistics indicate a significant shift toward intensive aquaculture practices. In contrast, wild harvest fisheries produced 157,409 tons, mainly C. Based on statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), worldwide oyster production reached a record high of 4.3 million metric tons in 2000 4 million metric tons (93%) of those landings originated from aquaculture, of which 99.3% consisted of a single species, Crassostrea gigas (FAO, 2001).
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