evidence: There is an ancient shellfish culture tradition in this area. The first records of shellfish culture in the Bay of Mali Ston (Republic of Dubrovnik) and the River Krka estuary go back to as far as the fifteen and seventeen centuries (Lorini, 1903). From the beginning of thislastcentury there have been more than one hundred sites on the East Adriatic coast where fish and shellfish have been cultured. Shellfish production hads been stable during the past few decades,but was interrupted as most production sites were directly affected by the recent war activities. Limiting factors for a more rapid revitalization after the war are the lower domestic market demand, and European Union (EU) import restrictions. As shell fish production has always been considered as a family business, transitional changes had no significant effects. Today there are more than one hundred small family farms that have now started to organize themselves in the various associations. [...] In order to possess a licence a concession has to be obtained.The use of maritime resources requires a marine resource concession which is issued by the County for a period of up to 12 years, by the Government for period of up to 30 years, and by the Parliament for a period of over 30 years (Maritime Code). [...] Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Dubrovnik