Maine mussels: Not on the rocks

Posted 2016-11-04

By Suzi Thayer / Boothbay Register

Mussels are one of Maine’s most coveted seafoods. But the bivalve molluscs that used to be readily available and ripe for the picking aren’t quite so easy to come by these days.

Marine biologist Jon Lewis said mussel settlement on mudflats and rocks has become a problem. “The decline in wild mussels may be related to warming waters, predators such as green crabs, ice scouring or ocean acidification.”

Luckily, for mussel lovers the larvae of mussels is still abundant — and mussel farmers are seeing to it that there are still plenty of them for consumption.