Muurugai

Mussels

Source: Farmed
Mercury Risk: Low

Although it’s rare to find mussel nigiri, many sushi bars offer a baked mussel special or appetizer. Order it. With so many questionable fisheries out there, it’s refreshing to find one that truly merits our support.

The vast majority of the mussels we eat are farmed and come from all over the temperate world. Mussels are raised from larvae that is collected from the wild and then reared in suspended cages or along the seabed. There is no bycatch in this fishery aside from the larvae of other bivalves that may be incidentally taken along with the mussel larvae.

Farmed mussels require no fish meal; they take all of the protein they need from the water around them. In fact, they provide a valuable service to the ecosystem by removing debris and nutrients from the water through a filter-feeding process. In essence, seawater is cleaner after moving through a mussel farm—the exact opposite result of other more destructive types of aquaculture.

Mussels are rarely associated with diseases or pathogens, and no known parasites found in farmed mussels are considered harmful to wild stocks or to consumers. Moreover, most mussel farms raise species that are native to their locales, which reduces potential environmental problems even further. New Zealanders farm green mussels, U.S. farms lean toward blue mussels, and Mediterranean mussels are popular in southern Europe. Although there are certainly exceptions to this trend, there has never been any evidence of genetic perturbation or crossover to wild mussels.

This is not to say that mussels cannot be an invasive species. The zebra mussel is notorious for this very characteristic, and it has spread from Asia to freshwater lakes and rivers around the world. However, this species is not used by the seafood industry and is not raised in any commercial mussel farms; there is no connection between the zebra mussel issue and the mussels at your favorite sushi restaurant.

In summary, farmed mussels are one of the best possible options at a sushi bar. They are a straightforward and refreshing exception to the often troubling trends within the sushi industry.