Blue mussel
Latin - Mytilus edulis
Norsk - Blåskjell
Deutsch - Miesmuscheln / Miesmuschel / Pfahlmuschel
Français - Moule Commune / Moules
Nederlands - Mossel
Italiano - Cozza / Mitili
Español - Mejillones
Português - Mexilhão azul / Mexilhões
  
Blue mussels are found along the entire coast of Norway, often in vast quantities
in belts in the tidal waters or a little way out in the fjords.
Blue mussels usually spawn between April and June, depending on their location.
The larvae remain free-swimming for approximately one month and then attach
themselves
to
a hard surface – rocks, cliffs, boats and moorings. Mussels
attach themselves to solid objects by strands (byssus threads) that are secreted
from the bottom of the shell,
and later they are able to move a little by stretching
out new threads.
Blue mussels are grown on suspension culture systems: a network of horizontal lines
suspended in the water from buoys from which ropes or lines called droppers
are hung.
The larvae, driven by the water, attach themselves to the droppers
and grow into marketable mussels in a year or two.
The shells are gradually
thinned out, harvested and sorted, and the byssus threads are removed by machines
onboard the harvesting vessels or at the landing and processing plants.
Season:
All year round, but usually best from autumn and winter to early spring.
Size:
Normal size: 6cm, 7cm, 8cm, and Up to 10-15 cm.
Meat
content is about 25 % from the total weight
Catch
Collecting blue mussels is a popular pastime in Norway, and the shells are
often plucked by hand and taken home for dinner or cooked on a bonfire on
the beach.
In particularly rich mussel banks, blue mussels are harvested
using dredges from boats. Remember to check whether the mussels are safe
enough to harvest!
Use
Blue mussels are usually steamed and can be eaten by themselves or with a variety
of garnishes. The boiled mussels can be served au gratin, prepared as special
dishes
or as a garnish to other dishes. Blue mussels can also be served raw
in the same way as oysters.
Nutritional content
Blue mussels are a good source of iron, selenium and vitamin B12, and the small
amount of fat they contain is the type that is good for your health.
Iron
is an important component of the haemoglobin in the blood, which has the
function of transporting oxygen.
Nutritional
content table.
Commercial product:
Fresh
1 kg bags packed in 12 kg boxes
1 kg net bag contain 55-75 Blue mussels size-
45-50mm.
1 kg net bag contain 40-55 Blue mussels size- +60mm.
Frozen are cooked and packed in vacuum bag.
Great Scallop
Latin - Pecten maximus
Norsk - Kamskjell
Deutsch - Jakobsmuscheln / Kamm-Muschel
Français - Coquilles Saint-Jacques
Nederlands - Sint Jakobsmossel
Italiano - Gran pettine / Cappasanta atlantica
Español - Vieiras / Concha de Santiago
Português - Vieiras
 
The king scallop is the largest of the scallop species found in Norway and
are generally simply called scallop. Scallops are found from depths of a
couple of metres down to several hundred metres, but occur most frequently
at depths of between 10 and 30 metres. King scallops often live in areas
with sandy bottoms, resting in small hollows
with the less-sculptured upper shell covered by sand,
but they are also found on other types of seabed. Scallops are hermaphrodites.
They carry their eggs in a special sac in front of the adductor muscle, where
the orange part is the egg and the grey-white part is the milt. Scallops spawn
in the summer.
The larvae swim freely for approximately one month before attaching themselves
to a surface. Juvenile scallops remain stationary until they reach a size of
10–15 mm,
when they settle on the sea floor. Scallops are marketable
after four or five years, when they have reached a size of 10–12 cm.
In Norway, king scallops are primarily collected by divers. In some countries,
scallops are harvested by dredging the seabed, but this is rarely an option
in Norway
as the seabed around the coast is not flat. Research is currently underway
to develop commercial scallop farming. Scallops are hatched artificially in
incubators
and are
nurtured in cases
in the sea, before being released on the seabed.
Season:
All year round, but it only has seasonal roe, with the season depending on thegeographical region.
Size:
Up to 17 cm in diameter.
Giant size - 14 + cm.
Superior size- 10 - 14 cm.
Fishing methods:
Dredging, diving.
Use
King scallops are sold fresh, frozen au gratin in their shells, frozen without
their shells and in brine. They can be eaten raw, lightly steamed, fried
or au gratin,
and they are particularly appetising when served in their decorative
shells.
Nutritional content
The Great scallop
is lean with a very high content of omega-3 fatty acids, rich in riboflavin
(B2), pantothenate and has high content of zinc.
Nutritional
content table.
Commercial product:
Fresh
3-5 pc's/kg in their shells.
Flat Oyster, Common Oyster
Latin - Ostrea edulis
Norsk - Østers
Deutsch - Auster
Français - Huître plate / Huître
Nederlands - Platte oester
Italiano - Ostrica piatta / Comune di ostriche
Español - Ostras
Português - Ostra plana
  
The flat oyster is the only species of oyster that is found naturally in Norway,
and it is the most commercially valuable type of oyster in Europe.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, flat oysters were common along
the whole coastline of Norway, and relatively large quantities were harvested.
Since then, the oyster has been on the decline and is now only found halfway
up the coast, as far north as Trøndelag, in protected coves that are
heated by the sun and shallow areas, where the water reaches a sufficient temperature
in the summer.
Oysters start building up roe and milt from the spring until they breed in
late summer, but they only spawn if the temperature is high enough. The eggs are fertilised
inside the shell,
and the larvae stay there for one week before leaving their
mother. They are then released as free swimming larvae before attaching themselves
to a substrate for the rest of their lives.
Traditionally, oysters were cultivated in protected coves heated by the sun,
where the parent oysters released larvae into the water and the young oysters,
known as spat,
were then gathered using various different devices.
Nowadays,
oysters are also cultivated under slightly more controlled conditions, in hatcheries
or in a combination of a hatchery
and temperate conditions in which oysters
grow naturally. The shells are cultivated up to a marketable size in cases in the sea or in
protected coves.
Season:
All year round, but best in autumn, winter and spring.
Use
Oysters are usually served raw with a dash of lemon juice and Tabasco. Oysters
can also be heated and served, e.g. on toast as a starter.
Nutritional content
Oysters are a good source of zinc and have a high content of other important
trace substances, such as copper, iron and niacin.
In combination with small
traces of phosphorus, these substances are good for our endurance.
Nutritional
content table.
Commercial product:
Fresh
Common cockle
Latin - Cerastoderma edule
Norsk - Hjerteskjell
Deutsch - Gemeinsame Herzmuschel
Français - Commune de coques
Italiano - Cuore di mare
Español - Berberecho común
Português - Berbigão vulgar / Joio do trigo
 
The common cockle is a species of marine bivalve. It is
found in coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean and the North sea..
Widely distributed in estuaries
and sandy bays around the coasts.
Inhabits the surface of sediments, burrowing to a depth of no more than 5 cm.
Found on clean sand, muddy sand, mud or muddy gravel from the middle to lower
intertidal, sometimes sub tidally. Often abundant in estuaries and sheltered
bays,
and population densities of 10,000 per m² have been recorded.
This species is eaten in several countries, including the United Kingdom,
France, Spain and Germany.
Common whelk
Latin - Buccinum undatum
Norsk - Kongesnegler
Deutsch - Wellhornschnecken
Français - Buccin
Italiano - Buccino
Español - Bocina
Português - Búzios / Buzo
  
Common whelk is a large colder-water edible
sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae,
the true whelks
Habitat
This species is mainly found on soft substrates in the sublittoral
zone, and occasionally on the littoral fringe, where it can sometimes
be found live at low tide.
Shell description
This species has a solid shell which is yellowish-brown in colour and
has a sculpture of vertical wavy folds (hence the name undatum, which
mean wavy).
These wavy folds are crossed by numerous spiral lines.
The aperture of the shell is broadly oval and tapers to a siphonal
canal. The number of shell whorls is seven or eight.
Size:
The maximum height of the shell is 10 cm (4 inches) and the
maximum width is 6 cm (2 1/2 inches)
The common whelk as a food item
Whelks are a seafood which is eaten
in many places around the world. Some believe they are best cooked
by boiling in sea water.
Cooked whelks removed from the shell and sprinkled
with pepper.
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