Culture banks—Development of new sustainable methods in the mussel fishery (39657/107988)

The mussel fisheries land annually up to 50,000 tonnes of mussels worth DKK 58 million (7.8 M Euros). However, fishing has been challenged in recent years with a strongly varying and generally decreasing amount of fishable blue mussels, especially in the Limfjorden but also in the rest of Denmark. This challenges both the fishing economy and the processing industry.

The purpose of KulturMus is to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries by developing an environmentally efficient production form, on-bottom culture banks, as an important supplement to the fishing of wild stocks. On-bottom culture banks consists of transplanting small mussels (seeds) into favorable areas where they can grow to fishable size. By targeting the seed fishing in areas threatened by oxygen depletion or from relaying seeds from off-bottom spat collectors, on-bottom banks contribute to green sustainability by reducing the impact of fishing on the bottom.

The project will include: a) Development of a site selection tool; b) Survival and growth experiments with mussel seeds of different origins and collected at different times of the year; c) Development of methods for securing on-bottom culture banks against pests; d) Determining derived environmental effects and developing best practice manuals and e) Economic analyzes of on-bottom culture banks inclusive value of stable raw material access and ecosystem services by moving mussels from oxygen depleted areas.

Overall, KulturMus develops a new and environmentally efficient production method for the mussel fishing in the Limfjorden, which can also be implemented in other fishing areas.

Partners
DTU Aqua (coordinator)
Association of Mussel Producers, Denmark
Aarhus University, Denmark
Limfjorden Fishermen Organization, Denmark
Danish Fishermen PO, Denmark

Funding
This project is funded by the Green Development and Demonstration Programme (GUDP).

Research area: Coastal Ecology