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New Hampshire Fishermen Are
Mussel Bound
Contact: Dolores Leonard
(603) 862-3685
CICEET and CINEMAR
Jan. 19, 2005
DURHAM, N.H. — New Hampshire fishermen will bring home a new
catch this year, thanks to the Open Ocean Aquaculture Project at
the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
Yankee and Portsmouth Fishermen’s cooperatives have received
permits from the N.H. Department of Fish and Game to farm blue mussels
for the first time in state coastal waters. Long lines, which are
used to culture the mussels, were deployed last November.
“We need alternatives in the face of changing fishing restrictions
and the fact that our fisheries are not an infinite resource,”
says Andy Lang, an independent fisherman who will farm mussels under
the permits. “This is a wide-open opportunity. The quality
of the product is superior, and UNH has made it clear that it will
support the tech transfer 100 percent.”
“Open ocean mussel culture is an environmentally sustainable
practice and an economically viable option for New Hampshire fishermen,”
says U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). Gregg recently notified UNH
that he has obtained $2.4 million in additional federal funding
for the Open Ocean Aquaculture Project, bringing total appropriations
for the program to $16.4 million since its inception in 1997. In
addition to shellfish culture, project scientists are engaged in
a major initiative to develop and refine the farming of finfish
such as cod, halibut, and haddock in deep sea cages.
Gregg adds, “Sustaining our commercial fishing industry requires
innovative strategies, the kind that come from combining federal
and state support with the research talent at University of New
Hampshire and the entrepreneurial spirit of Northeast fishermen.”
Harvesting mussels is a new industry for the state, and fishermen
like Lang will be the first to apply the techniques that have made
UNH a world leader in offshore mussel culture research. Unlike inshore
farms that use floating rafts or surface lines, these mussels will
grow nearly three miles offshore from a submerged long line—out
of sight and safely away from boat traffic. From the surface, passersby
will see only pairs of buoys, bobbing 600 feet apart.
“For a mussel industry to succeed off New Hampshire’s
crowded coast, fishermen need a sustainable approach, one that doesn’t
conflict with other uses, employs existing boats and equipment,
and can result in a reasonable profit,” explains Richard Langan,
project leader and director of CINEMAR, the Cooperative Institute
for New England Mariculture and Fisheries, which sponsors the project.
“This technology transfer has been five years in the making,
requiring a team of marine biologists, oceanographers, engineers,
educators, and fishermen.”
CINEMAR is a joint institute between UNH and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). As part of its mission to
further ecosystem–based management of marine environments,
NOAA supports the development of a competitive, environmentally-friendly
aquaculture industry in the United States, one that will meet growing
demand for seafood and provide for sustainable fisheries.
When farmed offshore, far from pollution sources, blue mussels (Mytilis
edulis) are a healthy and nutritious source of protein. To elude
the Gulf of Maine’s currents, waves, and weather—which
can combine to create conditions such as those described in the
book The Perfect Storm—mussel growing ropes are suspended
from a long line submerged 40 feet below the surface. The long line
is anchored to the bottom by granite blocks, 130 feet below. The
site, determined by working with commercial and recreational fishermen,
was chosen to avoid the “hard bottom”—those boulders
and ledges that lobstermen and recreational fishermen depend on
for their catch.
“Open ocean mussel culture has the potential to be a new industry
for the entire Northeast,” says Rollie Barnaby, the UNH Cooperative
Extension educator on the project. “It will complement, not
replace, other fisheries.”
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