In the United States, water quality standards for shellfishing and shellfish aquaculture waters have been governed since 1925 by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) first administered by the United States Public Health Service. With the greater popularity of aquacultured shellfish in the United States and the growth of market demand, seed availability is cited as one of the most pressing issues for the industry. The early recognition by ISSC of shellfish seed under certain conditions as being exempt from NSSP water quality classification requirements has already removed one of the largest regulatory barriers to expansion of seed production in waters that could well benefit from the ecosystem services that these little filter feeders might be providing. Waters formerly written off as useless and unproductive may well be the newest economic frontier as major nursery seed production areas for the growing American shellfish industry.