Rope grown mussels produced by the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG) have become the first farmed seafood in the UK to achieve the Friend of the Sea (FoS) certification.
Following a rigorous eight-month audit process, all member farms of SSMG have achieved FoS accreditation that confirms and endorses the sound environmental credentials of its mussel farming procedures.
Stephen Cameron, managing director of Scottish Shellfish, said he was delighted at achieving the certification, which represented a major milestone for the company that signalled its commitment to sustainability.
Mussels from Scottish Shellfish are not dredged from wild stock living on the seabed but are collected naturally as microscopic free-swimming larvae or spat from the sea on lines suspended in open water. The collected mussel spat then grows naturally by feeding on plankton carried by the rich tidal flows found around the Scottish west coast and Shetland. Once harvested, the mussels have a high meat yield and are free of grit.
Paolo Bray, director of Friend of the Sea, said: “The audit of SSMG mussel producers has been one of the most complex and engaging run by Friend of the Sea, considering the wide geographic distribution and number of sites to be visited.”
There are 14 mussel farms in the Scottish Shellfish group, which are located on the Scottish west coast and Shetland. Scottish Shellfish, which has a processing and handling facility in Bellshill, represents about 70% of total Scottish mussel production. The bulk of its output is for the UK, although it also supplies small quantities for the export market.
