Local mussels return to menu

After an 11-week hiatus, mussels are once again being harvested by Casco Bay’s Bangs Island Mussels Co.

The business, which grows mussels off long ropes attached to floating rafts, has been sidelined since May 2, when an algal bloom called red tide prevented workers from harvesting any of the bivalves. But on Tuesday, they started to harvest and distribute the mussels, after getting the all-clear from the state Department of Marine Resources.

“Mussels detoxify quickly,” said Kohl Kanwit, the agency’s public health director. She said mussel tissue had been tested to ensure they were healthy before the ban on harvesting was lifted.

Gary Moretti, owner of the company, said it was the longest red tide closure he could recall. In 2015, Maine’s mussel industry was valued at $2.4 million, but is expected to see significant growth, according to a Gulf of Maine Research Institute report.

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