It is said that the body, MacAlister Elliott and Partners, seeks to open a dialogue with all organisations or individuals with a direct interest in the fishery. The certification body invites public comments or information to the assessment process (relevant to the status of the stock, ecosystem interactions or fishery management practices).
The location of the fishery is Irish Sea, North East Atlantic (ICES Subarea VIIa). Seed mussel harvest in Morecambe Bay, Liverpool Bay and Caernarfon Bay. Grow-out operations in Menai Strait (north of the Swellies). The method used in this fishing is Enhanced fishery: Seed mussels harvested by dredge for relaying and ongrowing in the Menai Strait before reharvesting for sale.
The harvesting of seed mussel is licensing by Natural England (England) and CCW (Wales). The ongrowing is under rules of Several Order administered by NWNW Sea Fisheries Committee. With the exception of Caernarfon Bay, the fishery operates entirely within protected areas: Morecambe Bay and the Menai Strait are SACs (protected areas under the EU Natura 2000 system), and nested within the Menai Strait SAC is also the Traeth Lavan SPA (a protected area of importance for birds) which is adjacent to the mussel lays. This means that the statutory agencies that oversee protected areas exercise a high degree of control over the activities of the fishery (at least compared to most fisheries).
The commercial market for the mussels is in northern Europe (mainly the Netherlands, also to Belgium and France). There is no domestic sale of the product in the UK. The assessment process is expected to take 12 months and is scheduled for completion in or around April 2010. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.
