Important!
Check before you dig! Make sure the area where you plan to harvest shellfish is open. When an area is officially “closed,” it is both illegal and unsafe to harvest shellfish from that area.
Check for shellfish harvesting closures.
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There are many places along the coast of Nova Scotia to pick your very own mussels.
Growing up along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, picking mussels was one of my favourite pastimes. Some like to keep their mussel patches secret. One wouldn’t want to give away too good of a good thing right? So I’ll explain the “how to”, for now.
Blue mussels can be found in cold and warm waters all over the world, however many of them are found along the coast of Nova Scotia. They are a member of the clam family and are somewhat similar in appearance-except for the blue-black coloring.
Mussels can be picked at low tide. Unlike clams, they grow above the sand amongst seaweed around rocks. One can tell that mussels are in the area by noticing how many empty mussel sheets are lying around. If there are lots of empty shells, then walk to the waters edge, move aside the seaweed around the rocks, and have a look. There is no need to remove the seaweed, it generally stays where you want it to stay. Rocks can be slippery so be careful. If you notice a cluster of mussels, grab one and tug (they can attached themselves firmly to a rock).
In summer-time, mussels’ capacity to filter small particles makes them accumulators of the deadly red tide organism, Gonyaulax. Please check with the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture before mussel picking to make sure your area is safe: aquaculture@gov.ns.ca. Don’t plan on pickin’ until you get the thumbs up!
Once picked, take your bounty home. Wash them well in the sink with cold water and gently tap two together at a time. If they stay tightly closed, they are good to eat. Discard the ones that don’t close and stay open. Now, try this fabulous recipe.
The difference in colour of the meat has nothing to do with a difference in taste. I’m told that the orange meat is a mature female mussel, whilst the pale cream meat mussels are males (or immature females). Yummy.
Blue mussell photo is Courtesy of Sean MacNeill.
Here’s a yummy Curry Cream Mussel recipe
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Along the trail were decorations hanging from trees or lying on the ground made from pine cones, birch bark and other natural materials that were a hit with the squirrels and birds. I was told later that these were made by art students at a local school.
One trail led us to York Shore Battery, an abandoned WWII Command Centre where you can still explore around the rooms and all but climb onto the grass roofs. There is also an informative display panel explaining the role the facility had during its operation. One of them was keeping a watchful eye on German U-Boats that floated just outside the Halifax harbour. A giant underwater gate ran from here to McNab’s Island that kept the U-Boats out and our ships (and city) safe from attack.
The Right Coast Nova Scotia 