Prins & Dingemanse: Belgian mussels pose no threat

The successful cultivation of mussels along the Belgian coastline will have little impact on the neighboring Dutch industry, according to Prins & Dingemanse Director Edwin Foudraine.

John Evans

It follows reports last week that experiments along Belgium's 66-kilometer strip of coastline were successful enough to envisage commercial production by 2008.

Belgium’s SDVO sustainable fisheries organizations said this could halve imports from the Netherlands.

Last year, Belgium imported 29,000 tons of mussels, almost exclusively from neighboring Netherlands, for a total of €68 million ($82 million).

Three years from now, the Belgians aim to produce 14,000 tons of their own shellfish, according to an Associated Press report.

Foudraine, who oversees €45 million ($53.9 million) turnover, forecast cultivation of the Belgian coast would probably be restricted to premium products. Yerseke-based Foudraine said he did not know whether this would be due to reasons of quality or small-scale production.

“For the Dutch producers it doesn’t say that much, it’s a small part of the total mussel consumption in Belgium. It’s not that big a deal,” Foudraine said.

First-year production, according to Foudraine’s estimate, would reach 500 tons, rising to a maximum 1,500 tons. He said undertaking rope culture based on coastline very difficult to cultivate should present few worries to producers in Netherlands and other countries, where production is much higher.