Friend of Sea certificate provides independent confirmation of the sustainability of its aquaculture operations and rope grown mussels produced by SSMG have become the first to achieve it. After a rigorous eight-month audit process, all member farms of SSMG have achieved FoS accreditation that confirms and endorses the sound environmental credentials of its mussel farming procedures.
Stephen Cameron, managing director of Scottish Shellfish, told that it is pleasure to achieve this certification, which represented a major milestone for the company that signalled its commitment to sustainability. He added that this is a first for the UK and achieving this certification is testimony to the hard work and dedication of our member farms in employing best practice procedures that ensures there is minimal environmental impact during the growth cycle of our quality rope grown mussels.
Mussels from Scottish Shellfish are not dredged from wild stock living on the seabed but are collected naturally as microscopic free-swimming larvae or spat from the sea on lines suspended in open water. Paolo Bray, director of Friend of the Sea, informed that the audit of SSMG mussel producers has been one of the most complex and engaging run by Friend of the Sea, considering the wide geographic distribution and number of sites to be visited.
Bray also said that the certification of Scottish mussel producers represents one of the most important achievements of the Friend of the Sea project in the UK. The Friend of the Sea label on mussels can provide useful information to consumers on the optimal environmental performance of mussel farming. There are 14 mussel farms in the Scottish Shellfish group, which are located on the Scottish west coast and Shetland. Scottish Shellfish, which has a processing and handling facility in Bellshill, represents about 70 percent of total Scottish mussel production.
