Blackshell Farm wins national award

BLACKSHELL Farm, Westport, has won the Aquaculture Environmental and Social Responsibility Award at the inaugural National Seafood Awards, organised by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

The awards celebrate outstanding contributions in the areas of skills, sustainability, innovation and competitiveness in Ireland’s €1 billion seafood sector, which employs 11,000 people.

Blackshell Farm has been producing rope-grown mussels since 1983, run a marine cargo service servicing the west coast of Ireland, and also produce knitted mussel cotton. Blackshell uses only biodegradable and reusable materials to grow their mussels and is certified by Organic Trust Ltd as an organic mussel grower.

Director Michael Mulloy is the current chair of the Irish Shellfish Association, a director of Clew Bay Oyster Co-Op (since 1988) and a member of the Clew Bay CLAMS (Co-ordinated Local Aquaculture Management Scheme) group. He also has been a member of a national committee established by BIM to create a mussel quality scheme.

Blackshell also commissioned and expanded a knitting plant in Westport for biodegradable mussel stocking. Moreover, all their product is delivered by sea to the onshore processing plant, eliminating the need for heavy goods vehicle movements on narrow local roads.