Cooperative farming of mussels in Stigfjorden outside Tjörn

Having been a fish farmer on land for a long time, Niklas Wennberg and a group of other Tjörn residents decided to farm mussels. In short order, they bought a commercial mussel farm with a permit to grow 100 tons of mussels per year. After two months, it was transformed into a cooperative farm with a goal of having 60 members and harvesting a few tons together instead of growing 100 tons.

– We try to keep our ambitions low, so we will be extremely far below the 100-ton limit, says Niklas Wennberg.

Harvesting mussels in Stigfjorden

While there is no capacity to handle 100 tons of mussels, the cooperative is focusing on other objectives.  

– We must ensure that we have a lot of mussel soup, moule marinière and good mussel products in the fall of 2024 for our cooperative farmers. Then we want to be there for our local merchants and hopefully get some who express interest in starting their own farms. That is the ambition and we will learn a lot.

The number of members was reached after just two days, as interest was already high at the start-up meeting.  

– It wasn't because we were skilled, but because it's a very interesting topic. Many people understand that the sea is messy, that we humans have been careless. Now you have an opportunity to harvest the sea together with others and eat lots of food and drink wine, if you're the kind of person who does that, and support a movement.

Text: Kajsa Centre