We are not yet 2025, but the mussel growers are already rubbing their hands towards 2026. Because they have found so much mussel seed that it should be an absolutely top season.
65 million kilos of mussel seed. The mussels have ‘spewed’ out that much in the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Not that all of that is weighed. The seed from a few square meters is brought to the surface with a drag system. And with a simple rule of three, the total weight is estimated. In the past twenty years, the weight has only been the same twice before. Today’s seeds are the mussels that will be steaming in your cooking pot in 2026.
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“But of course it remains nature,” says Jaap Schot of mussel farm Neeltje Jan. “Anything can still go wrong until then. But this is already hopeful.”
Safe water
The mussel seed mentioned are in fact tiny mussels. Less than half the size of the ones we buy in the store. “In years with many storms, those small mussels can disappear deep into the sea. That hardly happened now, they were able to grow quietly.”
In the spring, the small mussels will be moved to what Schot calls “safe” water. “The mussel beds in the Oosterschelde and the Wadden Sea, where they can attach themselves and continue to grow until they are harvested in 2026. The cycle of the hermaphroditic animal is two years.”
If conditions remain favorable, there will be a lot of Zeeland mussels in 2026. “Very good news,” says Piet Devriendt of mussel restaurant De Oesterput in Blankenberge. “This year we had to have a lot of German mussels delivered, because the supply of Zeelanders was very meager. And lots of mussels: that will also be good for the consumer’s wallet. The price will probably be better.”