Different colored mussels, with varied flavors, more meat, and a softer texture, are being bred in Nelson and could end up in stores.
Aquaculture scientist Nick King, of the Cawthron Institute, said the different colored mussels included vibrant green and yellow-colored shells, while other new varieties had slightly different tastes — some sweet and others salty like seaweed.
Mussels had already been successfully bred so they had different textures that were not as gritty, while others had more meat inside the shell. Others had been grown that were able to survive out of water for up to 20 days, providing extra potential for export sales.
Work was also under way to breed mussels that grew faster to reduce the two-to-three-year time frame leading to greater returns for industry.
“The focus at the moment is on traits that have immediate commercial value — faster growth, stronger shells, bigger meat.”
The different varieties of mussels bred were part of the Cawthron Institute's shellfish program, which worked alongside industry representative, SpatNZ, to improve productivity and minimize risk and diseases for the shellfish sector, King said.
The program was behind some of the latest research as New Zealand’s aquaculture industry grew, he said.
