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Images: Bangs Island Mussels in Casco Bay, Maine

31 October 2016 James Wright

The Bangs Island Mussels barge is typically moored off of Clapboard Island in Casco Bay, Maine, but during October it was tied up 4 miles away, at Maine Wharf in Portland, for repairs and equipment upgrades. When the barge is fully operational on harvesting days, five workers will man the floating structure to haul ropes from which the mussels are removed, graded, inspected and placed on ice until they reach a land-based processing facility for debyssing, washing and further inspection.

Wild Ocean Aquaculture LLC President and co-owner Matt Moretti stands on his company’s dock in Portland, Maine, holding a Spanish-style pegged rope on which the mussels are attached and then affixed to floating rafts before being submerged into the water for grow-out. In one of the buildings behind Moretti, the company shares processing space with Upstream Trucking, a local seafood distributor that supplies seafood to a small stable of fine dining restaurants in the city. Portland is consistently named one of the top foodie destinations in the United States, and many of them have Bangs Island Mussels on the menu.

Shown here are some new and lightly used oyster bags, or cages, for growing bivalve shellfish. Moretti, who recently traveled to Japan with a delegation of Maine shellfish growers to witness scallop farming and processing, has worked with various types of shellfish in the past. Scallop farming may be in the future for the company, said Moretti, but the idea is still in the exploratory stage.

Just south of Clapboard Island, Maine, are four of Wild Ocean Aquaculture’s 10 total mussel rafts. On the approach you can easily see the outer “fencing” designed to ward off the mussel rafts’ top predator: eider ducks. “Seals are abundant, but don’t bother the rafts,” said Moretti, as one of the curious creatures swims nearby.

Six years under new ownership, niche shellfish supplier has expanded the operation’s production and market distribution

[slides]

This photo slideshow offers a closer look at what restaurants in Maine and beyond are raving about: Bangs Island Mussels. Six years after purchasing the company from its founder, Matt Moretti says the niche shellfish supplier has expanded its annual production by nearly four times, has broadened its market distribution beyond the local region and is incorporating sweet kelp culture as well.

All photos and captions by Global Aquaculture Advocate Editor James Wright.

Editor’s note: If you would like your aquaculture operation to be featured in an “Images” slide show, please email the Global Aquaculture Advocate at editor@gaalliance.org.

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Author

James Wright

Editorial Manager
Global Aquaculture Alliance
Portsmouth, NH, USA

james.wright@gaalliance.org

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Six years under new ownership, niche shellfish supplier has expanded the operation’s production and market distribution

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