The success of FRDC supported breeding and hatchery production programs has demonstrated to industry that faster growing disease resistant oysters can be bred and distributed. Industry has now established a company, SOCo, to accept responsibility for the management, future development and distribution of the SRO breeding lines. Initially the company undertook management and coordination of the sales of faster growing seed and now wishes to expand its role to determine the future of the breeding program. To ensure the successful adoption of technology, a previous FRDC review of oyster hatchery and breeding programs (Benzie et al., FRDC 2001/213) strongly emphasised the need to inform, equip, and assist industry to understand and adopt this technology. Accordingly, there is a need to 1) conduct an independent assessment of current selection practices and their relevance to ongoing breeding line maintenance and improvement, 2) establish the genetic status of the current breeding lines with respect to the natural populations of SRO and 3) assist in the development of cost effective strategies and technology for the maintenance of selected lines and their genetic integrity. The outcomes of these assessments need to be presented in a form that is suitable for incorporation in the company’s business plan and that would be of value to other industries undertaking or contemplating breeding programs.