Present Status and Prospects of Oyster Industry in Korea

Oyster is the most important item next to tuna based on the market value in Korea's fisheries exports and it shares more than $90\%$ of the world oyster market. Oyster industry is a vital component of the Korea's aquaculture industry. However, it has faced many problems such as (1) a lower productivity of the culture system, (2) an environmental deterioration of the farming area, (3) a higher labor cost, (4) a shortage of of oysters to export, and (5) a poor seedling in nature. Therefore, including it's business forecast, the above problems and some countermeasures are discussed in this paper.