The black mussel (Mytilus edulis) has been growing naturally in Boston Bay for over 6000 years and is now grown and harvested commercially for the domestic market and export to the world by Kinkawooka Mussels. Recently I had the opportunity to visit the mussel leases in Boston Bay as well as the Kinkawooka factory in Port Lincoln as part of a visit by Sydney Chefs to the region.

Kinkawooka Mussels is a family run business run by Managing Director Andrew Puglisi (a 6th Generation Fisherman) is dedicated to developing the best mussel farming operation in Australia. The former tuna farmer has already set up Australia’s first export-accredited factory for mussels with the idea of value-adding mussels for the overseas markets.

After meeting us at Port Lincoln Airport, Andrew took as to their fleet of vessels at the marina and we headed out to one of their 5 mussel leases in Boston Bay, which covers over 80 hectares of available farming. Boston Bay is approx 3.5 times the size of Sydney Harbour and is the heart of Australia’s seafood frontier with major wild harvest and aquaculture making the bay home and is famous for it’s tuna, abalone, crayfish and whiting; a great location to grow the world’s best mussels.

On the trip out to the leases, Andrew explained the process of growing, harvesting, grading and processing of the black mussels in detail. The mussels are grown utilising New Zealand longline technology. This continuous long line system suspends the shellfish in the water column, with the mussels growing in clumps along the line to a depth of 7 metres. The longline system promotes more efficient and faster harvesting of the mussels.

Using automated harvesting equipment, the mussels are removed from the longlines, graded and cleaned. Depending on the size required (most are about 18 months old) the shellfish are placed in a stainless steel declumper where they are separated and washed, then packed into 400kg bags. The 400kg bulk bags of mussels are then graded into cocktail, standard and premium sizes and then chilled and transported to the on-shore packing facility. Their premium grade mussels are available from September to June and during the season have the capacity to harvest over 10 tonnes of mussels per day.

At the Kinkawooka factory, using the latest in New Zealand technology, these mussels are de-bearded and sorted again for size, then processed as required; ie fresh, frozen or value added. The value added products are vacuum-packed cooked and frozen and are available as plain product, or with a variety of sauces such as white wine and garlic, chunky tomato and basil and Asian-style laksa sauce.

One of the reasons Kinkawooka Mussels have gained so much attention from chefs and retail customers here in Australia is due to their packaging which has been designed for maximum freshness. The live mussels are packaged into a cyrovac style plastic bag which is sealed with a little seawater. This keeps the mussels live and fresh, ensuring that when chefs or home cooks open then package they are getting mussels which are still alive. Compare this to heshion bags which allow the mussels to dry out and die; the difference is amazing.

Kinkawooka mussels can best be described as having a sweet flavour with a soft, rich texture and has a high meat to shell ratio. They currently sell 250 tonnes of fresh mussels to domestic markets but expects export markets will rapidly increase demand with plans underway to export to Asia, Japan, Europe and the United States.

If you are interesting in serving Kinkawooka mussels domestically or are interested in exporting or need to locate a retailer contact ;

Andrew Puglisi
Managing Director
Kinkawooka Mussels
+61 886 823 091
andrew@kinkawooka.com.au
www.kinkawooka.com.au