Het Nederlands Mosselbureau

Hanging culture mussels are grown on ropes close to the surface of the water. More food is present there than on the sea floor, so they can be harvested earlier than bottom cultivated mussels. This allowed us to organize two press events in 2023, each time in Yerseke, home port of the Zeeland mussel.

For the first harvest of Zeeland's hanging culture mussels, we took the Flemish press out on the water to see how hanging culture mussels are grown. Mussel ambassador Sven Ornelis also joined us on board. With the fresh catch, he prepared a summer mussel dish on the quay, in which he did full justice to the flavorful shellfish with a little chorizo and parsley.

We invited both the Flemish and Walloon press to the launch of the bottom-culture mussels a few weeks later. Not only did we travel by boat on the Oosterschelde to fish up the new harvest, but chef Piet Devriendt of restaurant De Oesterput in Blankenberge also surprised the journalists with a delicious mussel lunch.

Tired and satisfied, the journalists headed home after both events. Our harvest: 23 press clippings for the hanging culture mussels, 71 press clippings for the bottom culture mussels. Quite a catch!