Pioneering organic mussels

Set up more than 20 years ago by local brothers John and Flor Harrington, Kush produces and supplies mussels, Gigas oysters and periwinkles grown along Kenmare Bay to national and international markets. John Harrington, managing director of Kush told the Sunday Business Post that all mussels filter feed on water, so the quality of the shellfish is only as good as the quality of the water they are grown in.

‘‘We’re at an advantage in that Kenmare Bay has been designated a Special Area of Conservation [SAC] under the EU Habitats directive, and has the cleanest, purest shellfish growing conditions available," he explained. Gaining organic certification for shellfish in Ireland was a little difficult, as that sort of legislation didn’t exist there, so Bord Iascaigh Mhara agreed to a pilot scheme for the certificate, similar to those that it awards for farmed fish. The Marine Institute of Ireland monitors the water quality on a weekly basis, and it acts on behalf of the Food Safety Authority.