<P> Oyster farming is an aquaculture (or mariculture) practice in which oysters are raised for human consumption . Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Romans as early as the 1st century BC on the Italian peninsula and later in Britain for export to Rome . The French oyster industry has relied on aquacultured oysters since the late 18th century . </P> <P> Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Romans as early as the 1st century BC on the Italian peninsula . With the Barbarian invasions the oyster farming in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic came to an end . </P> <P> In 1852 Monsieur de Bon started to re-seed the oyster beds by collecting the oyster spawn using makeshift catchers . An important step to the modern oyster farming was the oyster farm built by Hyacinthe Boeuf in the Ile de Ré . After obtaining the rights to a part of the coast he built a wall to make a reservoir and to break the strength of the current . Some time later the wall was covered with spat coming spontaneously from the sea which gave 2000 baby oysters per square metre . </P>

Much of the oyster industry takes place in