ACROSS THE DITCH
Biggest vs.
BEST TASTING
BY JOHN MOSIG
Blue mussels are found worldwide
but don't you have blue mussels over on your side of The
Ditch? You haven't thought of giving them a go on the ropes,
have you? I'll grant you they're not as productive as those
Greenshells, but hey, there might be a niche market for them
amongst the white tablecloth brigade. A bit like those Bluff
oysters that come up from Stewart Island. Some people will
pay a little bit extra for something that's a little bit different.
And while we're talking about mussels, and how they need
nutrient rich water to optimize growth, has anyone measured
if they grow better near the salmon cages than in open water?
Just a thought.
It could help douse some of the argument from the Green
Taliban, you know - that fish farming is akin to releasing
Agent Orange into the environment. Remember, if we're
going to work out a sustainable compromise for the whole
community and produce healthy food, the farmer and the
greeny must be friends.
Anyway, here comes the nurse with my medication. Catch
you later.
* Google "Killers in Eden", it's a story I'm sure you'll
resonate with over in Kiwi-land.
G
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VIP.AC45
'day Kiwi. How're you travelling over there? We're
starting to get a bit of the wet stuff but it's mainly hand
to mouth, and some aren't getting any. Not the best
start to Autumn, eh?
I don't want to start that bigger vs. best argument about
mussels but I had feed of blue mussels fresh off the ropes
from Eden the other day. The Eden down on the south coast
of New South Wales - just across the Ditch from Mangonui
- where the orcas used to drive the whales towards the
harpooners in the not so old days.* I was with a couple of
foodies who thought they knew their seafood. Fair dinkum,
they'd said they'd never tasted anything like these little
beauties. They hadn't spawned and the meats were loaded.
And I must admit that I hadn't seen mussels like this
since the early days down in Victoria's Westernport in the
Flinders Marine Zone. There were only a couple of growers
down there when marine farming first started off and the
Mornington Peninsular was more agricultural than it is
now. There was good nutrient rich run-off and, being at the
western entrance, the tidal exchange from Bass Strait ensured
a good healthy water exchange. The mussels came off the
lines as clean as a whistle and with meats as fat as fools.
One of the ironies of this is that one way or another mainly poor facilities - the area has been sort of abandoned.
This has led to the area slipping back to where it was 20 odd
years ago. And haven't the mussels improved! Just like the
ones from Eden, eh?
Which brings us to biggest vs. best. I'll concede we're never
going to have a mussel industry rivalling the wonderfully
productive Greenshell industry you have over there, but
we're always gong to have the juicier more flavoursome
variety.
Now, I don't want to come across as the smart arse from
the West Island – so I'm not sure I should be asking this –
JULY/AUGUST 2013
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NZ AQUACULTURE
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