Mussel-Bound -- The waters of the Oosterschelde are ideal for building mussels. Whiplike branches sticking out of the shallow water off Yerseke mark the location of mussel merchants' "parcels" -- stretches of water where mussels lie on the sandy bottom. In April and May, mussel boats are busy "planting" mussel-seed: young mussels that will form the next year's crop. By the time they've grown to 4 centimeters (1 1/2 in.), they've joined together in dense mats for mutual support against tidal pull. These are scooped up and moved for 2 weeks to other parcels, called "wet warehouses," which are freer of sand, for the final growth to maturity. Once they reach 6 centimeters (2 1/2 in.) or larger, they are ready for harvesting, destined for Belgium, Holland, and France. But as any skipper will tell you: "The biggest ones are for me."
From the start of mussel season in July until it ends the following April, fishing boats ply back and forth between port and parcels. On a good outing, a skipper can return to Yerseke with a thousand mussel-tonnes glistening in his hold -- a mussel-tonne is 100 kilograms (220 lb.). In an average season, 100 million kilograms (2.2 million lb.) of mussels pass through here.
