HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – On a gray morning, hundreds of glistening black shells tumble down a chute to the deck of a retired Navy landing craft.
Mussels are peeled off heavy ropes, sorted by size and cleaned before five crewmen, seated around a table, inspect them for cracks or holes. The biggest and best are placed in bags, a bounty of bivalves destined for sale to restaurants and fish markets.
This farm-raised mussel business 6 miles off the coast of California’s Orange County marks a new direction for aquaculture by raising seafood in open ocean rather in bays, estuaries or other pens along the shoreline.
The Catalina Sea Ranch, a 100-acre collection of ropes and buoys, bills itself as the first commercial aquaculture operation in federal waters. It could be one of many to come…
Read more at USAToday.com
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