The most effective approach to mitigate POMS is to breed oysters that are genetically resistant to it.Australian Seafood Industries Pty Ltd (ASI), a company owned by the oyster industry and established for the sole purpose of breeding oysters has commenced work to produce a POMS resistant Pacific Oyster. Excellent progress was achieved so that when R&D funding from the The Seafood Seafood CRC ceased in 2014, all state industry bodies agreed to implement a levy based on oyster spat sales to continue the research. The objective of genetic selection for POMS resistance is to identify oyster families that survive natural infection and can then be used for future breeding. In conjunction with industry, ASI set the standard for POMS resistance at “70% of individuals in an oyster family surviving a POMS challenge as 1 year old animals”. The research has progressed well and it was expected to make the first commercial supply of POMS resistant broodstock that meet this standard in 2018. This progress has been interrupted by the outbreak of POMS.

The occurrence of POMS in Tasmania and the consequential quarantine and control procedures implemented between States to limit spread of the disease means that sale of normal oyster spat will be minimal for the foreseeable future. Ensuring the fast tracking of ASI's breeding program for improved genetic progress and commercial supply was assessed as the top priority for industry in the recently released report "A National Industry Response to Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS)" authored by Jan Davis for Oysters Australia (FRDC project 2015-406).