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Seafood Information

Published: August 26, 2010
Updated: August 29, 2010
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Mussels are bivalve mollusks that are found throughout much of the world. Among the most common types are blue mussels from the North Atlantic and green lipped mussels which originate in the South Pacific.

Blue mussels (Mytilus Edulis) have a smooth, bluish-black shell. Wild blue mussels and tend to live in coastal estuaries or near shorelines. They often grow in clumps, attaching themselves to rocks or to each other by means of sticky filaments, sometimes referred to as a "beard". They are typically harvested by hand at low tide. In the North Atlantic, blue mussels are often grown using a variety of methods, but most methods share common traits, usually providing some means for mussels to anchor and live above the sea floor.

Suspension aquaculture systems are the most common method of growing blue mussels. Typically, farms employ a network of horizontal lines suspended in the water from buoys from which ropes or lines called droppers are hung. The larvae or spat attach themselves to the droppers and grow. Blue mussels reach market sizes in 1-2 years. They feed by filtering 10-15 gallons of water a day.

The traditional French 'bouchot' method of mussel culture originates from the 13th century. According to legend, an Irish traveler was shipwrecked on the Mont Saint Michel Bay when he accidentally discovered the habit of mussels to aggregate on ropes and fatten remarkably . The culture method was named by a combination of two words in the Irish of the time: Bout=fence, Chot=Wood. The bouchot method of mussel farming is implemented on wooden poles which are placed upright into the sea bed in the low inter-tidal region.

Mussels in Galicia (Spain) are farmed using "Batea" - a floating platform made of eucalyptus beam fastened on top of barrels or floaters and anchored to the sea bed by means of concrete block called "muertos" (dead). In 2010, there were more than 3,300 bateas in the estuary waters of Galicia, producing almost half of the EU production.