PICTON -- small boat cruise to see a green mussel farm, with samples served on board.
New Zealand farms annually produce 140,000 metric tons of mussels, with a value of about US $150 million.
The floats support an underwater artificial reef, which is seeded with mussel larvae from wild populations. After about 15 months of growth, the mussels are harvested.
This is what the cooked mussels look like. They went nicely with a New Zealand white wine.
This pea crab, a parasite of mussels, was in our serving.
New Zealand and Australia Index