SLU news
Mussels: both water purifier and feed material
Published: 13 February 2013
On February 5, EPOK arranged a lunch seminar in Skara: "Interactions between farming and mussel farming – an environmental measure in time”. Keynote speaker was Odd Lindahl, a marine biologist at the Royal Academy of Sciences at Kristineberg Marine Research Station.
Odd told that mussel farming can be used to clean the sea from eutrophication. Each mussel filters about 5 litres of seawater per hour, which means that the purification capacity is significant. The mussels can become a high-protein feedstuff and can replace the fishmeal that is currently used for pigs and poultry.
The technology could also utilize the smaller blue mussels from the Baltic Sea. Mussel could solve two major endurance problems; marine eutrophication and overfishing.
Well-attended lunch seminar
About 30 people attended the seminar. Odd described with great knowledge and enthusiasm the blue mussel 's life cycle, development of fodder production and the economic incentives that would be needed to stimulate mussel farming and feed production. In conclusion, the participants got acquainted with the different types of mussel meal, which Odd exhibited.