Authority agrees in principle to open a harvestable mussel fishery
At the 58th Eastern IFCA Meeting, members agreed in principle to open a harvestable mussel fishery in the Wash. A harvestable mussel fishery refers to a fishery which takes adult mussel to sell directly for human consumption, usually after cooking or purifying.
It is intended that a mussel fishery will open in the New Year pending advice from Natural England.
Management measures are currently being developed taking into account the results from the industry consultation which closed on 14 December 2024. During the consultation, it was identified that two of the beds surveyed (on the Ferrier Sand), are part of the le Strange Estate private fishery and will not be open to the public fishery. The 2024 mussel stock survey has been updated to reflect this (link below).