Working on the mussels

Working on the Mussels

There are many different stories about the origin of mussel beds. It was probably by chance as is often the case.

An Irish sailor named Patrick Walton ran aground on a French coast and was in search of food. He hung a fishing net between two poles hoping to catch some sea-birds to eat them and he soon realized that baby mussels started to settle on the lower part of the poles and developed tide after tide. Mussel beds were born. The word “bouchot” in French is the contraction of two gaelic words “bout” meaning fence and “choat or chot” meaning wood, a wooden fence.

This type of mussel is of medium size, has an orange coloured flesh and is deliciously tasty. This type of mussel is rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and selenium ..... can’t be bad can it ?

This wonderful sea food has its own secret to keep you fit and healthy. First of all there are nutritional elements which are excellent in helping to avoid fatigue and depression. It is also full of vitamins such as B8, B12 and E that help fight anaemia and contribute to healthy nerve cells and a clear skin.

1 - Preparing the “Mussel Brood” :

Baby mussels settle on ropes made of coconut and these ropes rest on tables situated on the West Atlantic coast of France between La plaine sur mer and Arcachon. These ropes (each a 100 metres long ….) are delivered to us, in Normandy, and we rest them on tables called “chantiers” so that they can start growing. This enables us to stack them while waiting for new poles to become available.

2 – Settling the mussels on the poles :

The ropes are then cut in lengths of 2.5 or 3 metres and wrapped evenly around the poles (called “bouchots”) to enable the mussels to cover the whole pole as they develop.

This is done 3 or 4 times a year with a net called “capelage” to prevent the oysters from falling off the pole. The number of nets depends, of course on the weather conditions and the growth of the mussels on the poles.

3 - Harvesting the mussels :

The mussels are harvested once they have reached their commercial size. In order to do that we use a crane specially equipped for the purpose. The crane is either bolted to a trailor pulled by a tractor or mounted to a lighter or barge.

10 to 18 months are required for mussels to reach their commercial size, it varies according to the date of seeding and the location of the mussel beds. As a matter of fact the farther out in the ocean the mussels are, the faster they will grow.

Today the mussels grown in our mussel beds have obtained the famous (CCP) Certified Quality Standard which for the consumers, guarantees a good mussel flesh, a minimum maturing period of 6 months and also traceability of the mussels from the place where they were born to the place where they are sold.