18 Sep 2024
Blue Mussels & Water Pollution: Protecting Wales’s River Conwy – Cool Green Science (nature.org) North Wales is renowned for its lush landscapes, temperate climate and ample rainfall. The region’s natural beauty is underscored by its rugged mountains and tranquil rivers. The Conwy River, called Afon Conwy in Welsh, originates in the Migneint Moorlands of Snowdonia. […]
20 Aug 2024
The UK’s first large-scale offshore mussel farm, located in Lyme Bay off South Devon, is helping shellfish reefs return to the seabed for the first time in up to 150 years, according to a new study. Established in 2013, the farm’s mussel lines have transformed the seabed from muddy sediment into reefs, benefitting commercial fish […]
22 Dec 2022
Scientists replicated a 1964 River Thames survey and found that mussel numbers have declined by almost 95%, with one species – the depressed river mussel – completely gone. The detailed study measured the change in size and number of all species of mussel in a stretch of the River Thames near Reading between 1964 and […]
03 Dec 2020
Environment Agency: ‘Quagga mussels found in the River Trent and Rutland Water Invasive non-native species found in East Midlands River and reservoir users urged to follow ‘check, clean, dry’ procedures Environment Agency and Anglian Water working together to identify spread The invasive non-native species has recently been found in the River Trent near Newton-on-Trent, Lincolnshire, […]
17 Nov 2020
Thanks to Emma Sheehan for this. CGTN: RAZOR: How mussels could help soaring food demand and the environment – Watch the Video Jo Colan and Giulia Carbonaro Feeding the world’s ever-increasing population is a growing challenge, pushing the limits of what the planet can sustain. By 2050, the demand for food is expected to be […]
23 Nov 2019
Can shellfish aquaculture save coastal bays? A recent study has confirmed that mussel and oyster farming can play a key role in improving water quality by removing hundreds of tonnes of nitrogen from coastal bays and estuaries. A meta-analysis published in Aquaculture Reports reveals that mussel and oyster farming is likely to remove nearly 334 tonnes of […]
02 Jul 2019
Guardian ‘In all her years working at Bodega Bay, the marine reserve research coordinator Jackie Sones had never seen anything like it: scores of dead mussels on the rocks, their shells gaping and scorched, their meats thoroughly cooked. A record-breaking June heatwave apparently caused the largest die-off of mussels in at least 15 years at Bodega Head, […]
13 Nov 2018
All of the larger mussel species, Anodonta, Unio and Margaritifera are all able to move around the surface of their habitats and burrow. They have a large foot which fills with blood to enable this movement. This time lapse video of pearl mussels placed in a flume illustrates this brilliantly (Freshwater Biological Association). Pearl mussels […]
