Where it all began
At the present time, Penn Cove Shellfish grows and harvests over two million pounds of mussels per year from our two farms located in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island and the other in Quilcene Bay, located on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. We start production of our product on our farms and in our partner's Quilcene hatchery and follow it through from planting, thinning, grow-out, harvest and distribution. We never feed or fertilize our shellfish, we simply give them an ideal place to grow and thrive. As a matter of fact, mussel farming provides enhanced habitat and ecosystem services for many species and adds to the overall health of the marine environment.
Most days, our two 64-foot, custom mussel harvesting vessels, the "Moule Mariner" and the "Mytilus" can be seen alongside our mussel rafts in Penn Cove and Quilcene Bay. Each of the mussel rafts support between 900 to 2500 mussel lines and can yield over 50 pounds of mussels on each line. The mussels take about 14 months to reach a harvest-able size, so there's an ongoing rotation among the rafts between juvenile mussels and those ready to harvest, enabling year-round mussel production and optimum quality.
Below you will find a video filmed in Penn Cove documenting our seeding process. This process consists of setting the mussel larvae, planting the the mussel seed, thinning and transplanting the seed, setting the mussel discs, harvesting, and distribution.
Scroll down to find an in depth description and photos of each individual process!
