rules surrounding mussel harvesting?

Xiney

Are there any regulations (licenses, etc) controlling the harvesting of mussels on our shores?

Or can I just go out there and get some free food?

Anything else I should know?

Nothing positive to add other than this reminds me of the Seinfeld episode at the beach when Kramer finds some lobsters just lying around in pots in the water.

Xiney

lol

tonyhiggins

Not sure the areas in the bay around the city would be the greatest for shellfish... I remember signs in Ballyloughane saying not to eat them...

josey_whale

Xiney wrote: »

Are there any regulations (licenses, etc) controlling the harvesting of mussels on our shores?

Or can I just go out there and get some free food?

Anything else I should know?

Well, AFIK there are no laws on the harvesting of mussels. I do it myself. A few things though - mussels are filter feeders - so you better be sure that you are picking them from somewhere far from a sewage outlet, etc. They will accumulate toxins.

Also, it is said that mussels should only be harvested in a month containing the letter "R". so from now until April you are good. The reason being (months May - August), is that this is the time that mussels spawn - for one they are not as succulent, and two, more importantly, as Jean-Michel Cousteau put it..... "failure to understand how nature works gobbles up the capital, which, over time, will bankrupt our natural resources"...............

Xiney

josey_whale wrote: »

Well, AFIK there are no laws on the harvesting of mussels. I do it myself. A few things though - mussels are filter feeders - so you better be sure that you are picking them from somewhere far from a sewage outlet, etc. They will accumulate toxins.

Also, it is said that mussels should only be harvested in a month containing the letter "R". so from now until April you are good. The reason being (months May - August), is that this is the time that mussels spawn - for one they are not as succulent, and two, more importantly, as Jean-Michel Cousteau put it..... "failure to understand how nature works gobbles up the capital, which, over time, will bankrupt our natural resources"...............

Yeah, they're a big stepping stone on the road to biomagnification...

Where are the sewage outlets in Galway? The mussels I found were on Ballyloughlan beach, although there were no signs up saying not to eat them, that might just be because the locals already know.

The reason I'm being overly cautious is there was a prof from my university who suffered permanent massive brain damage from eating a bad batch of mussels.

Fuinseog

Xiney wrote: »

Yeah, they're a big stepping stone on the road to biomagnification...

Where are the sewage outlets in Galway? The mussels I found were on Ballyloughlan beach, although there were no signs up saying not to eat them, that might just be because the locals already know.

The reason I'm being overly cautious is there was a prof from my university who suffered permanent massive brain damage from eating a bad batch of mussels.

sure you could served a bad pint and where would that leave you.

i think ballyloughane is clean these days, although the sign is still up. it was a cesspool in the eighties. the sewage treatment plant was held up for ten years but a good for nothing element within the city. the bay is a lot cleaner as a result.
its gas when people from salthill buy their mussels at the market, little realising they are harvested on their doorstep.

donmeister

There are rules, otherwise people would be shellfish taking all the mussels.


See what I did there? :pac:

tricky D

josey_whale wrote: »

Well, AFIK there are no laws on the harvesting of mussels. I do it myself. A few things though - mussels are filter feeders - so you better be sure that you are picking them from somewhere far from a sewage outlet, etc. They will accumulate toxins.

Also, it is said that mussels should only be harvested in a month containing the letter "R". so from now until April you are good. The reason being (months May - August), is that this is the time that mussels spawn - for one they are not as succulent, and two, more importantly, as Jean-Michel Cousteau put it..... "failure to understand how nature works gobbles up the capital, which, over time, will bankrupt our natural resources"...............

Mussels in Irish waters spawn like clockwork every year on the 10th of May for 22 hours. They detach and swim around and do their thing. It took 5+ years and over €600k of fisheries research to find that out and other countries' research is verifying this. Leaving them until august gives them a decent chance to develop.

There are strict regulations for commercial mussels. They can only be fished under permit and during certain months. There are mats laid down off Rush each year but the water is polluted so the mats are lifted and transferred to Carlingford and Wexford and relaid in clean waters. It takes 4-6 months for them to get clean and then only the french will take them.


So if it takes 4-6 months to get cleaned, it kinda tells you how important it is that you only pick them from really clean waters. Could do worse than asking the local fishermen how clean the waters are.