For 200 years we have believed in a simple, traditional way of mussel gathering. Our mussel men still hand-rake wild mussels from small wooden boats – a practice passed down through three generations.
The Conwy mussel industry has been around for a long time. In fact, not so many years ago over 90 fishermen worked on the Conwy River fishing for mussels. Despite increased competition from dredged and rope grown mussels and changes to purification regulations, the way we fish for mussels remains unchanged.
Unlike modern dredging, which can damage the fish, our way of mussel gathering is completely natural, ensuring our mussels are bigger, tastier and often fresher than their farmed competitors. Using a twenty foot pitch pine rake, we dig until our boats are full. The freshly gathered mussels are washed on arrival at our process plant on the Quay front where they are purified for 48 hours to remove any bacteria or germs. One more wash in cold, fresh water before only the very best mussels are handpicked, weighed and bagged, ready to be eaten.
During season, you can try our mussels, in the Paysanne restaurant, Deganwy and The Quay Hotel.
Read the full story of Conwy Mussels here.