Bangs Island Mussels

How Maine’s Bangs Island Farm Harvests 7,000 Pounds of Mussels per Day | Eater

"On Casco Bay, a distinctive “mussel sausage” — a fabric-like casing filled with tiny mussels attached to a rope called a mussel line — is created to grow and protect young mussels. Days begin at 5 a.m., when harvesters sail to one of six 40-by-40-foot rafts to hang these lines, feeding small, unsellable mussels from the previous day’s harvest so they can mature while being shielded from predators and made easier to harvest. The operation then uses high-tech equipment to separate mussels from the line and unwanted organisms, convey them along rinsing and de-clumping machines, and move the catch back to a processing facility where specialized machinery removes fibers, inspects, polishes, packs, weighs, and ships the product. Thanks to these custom-built systems and sustainable growing practices, the operation produces some of Maine’s largest sustainably grown mussels for distribution to shops, chefs, and restaurants." - Terri Ciccone