Mussel farming, Chalastra

Introduction

 The mussel culture farms are family run small - scale farms. The facilities are located in the Delta Municipality, at Thessaloniki Prefecture, North Greece; one of them is own and operated by Tsiaras & Co. The farm is located NE of the estuary of river Axios delta at Thessaloniki Gulf and produces the Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), targeting the domestic and international market.

 Photo source: Ateith, 2007 - Archimeds II

Mytilus is a cosmopolitan genus of medium to large-sized edible saltwater mussels, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. The Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture. In Europe, Mytilus galloprovincialis is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and on the Atlantic coasts, in Portugal, north to France and the British Isles. This animal grows up to 140 mm in length. It is a smooth-shelled mussel with a slightly broader base than that of the black mussel, with which it is often confused in South Africa. Its shell is blue-violet or black, but may shade to light brown. The Mediterranean mussel is a filter feeder which often aggregates in dense beds. It is rare subtidally, which is an alternate means of distinguishing it from the black mussel in South Africa [ext partially extracted from Wikipedia].

The site

This section contains intormation about the site and the conditions that affect the facility and its operation.

Facility and equipment

Provides a more detailed description of the facility and the equipment used.

Planning and operation

This section describes the general production plan and the operation of the facility.

Local community

This section provides information about the local community around the site.