VPM Adding Value to Small Mussels

Rope-grown mussels are cultivated on lines of posts in the intertidal zones along the Atlantic and Channel coasts.

After they are harvested, the mussels are washed, sorted and graded. Grading classifies a significant proportion of mussels as too small for sale (undersized). These are discarded in the intertidal area itself, creating an eyesore, a bad smell and the potential for microbiological pollution.

In recent years, a branch of the company Mytilimer called Mytililab has developed a process for hydrolysing these small mussels. A hydrolysate made from the mussels’ flesh and clean shells is recovered at the end, and can be used in a variety of applications such as feed for aquaculture, pet food, and flavourings for foodstuffs.

Mytililab will set up a pilot site in the Mont Saint-Michel Bay in June 2021; it will then have two years to open a factory where it can process 1,500 tonnes of mussels.