The Great Famine and Mussels

By Michael Crowley

The starvation, disease, and death caused by the Great Famine (184549) could have been greatly alleviated, if not totally averted, had the people of Ireland known about mussel farming and the abundant supply of this high-protein food source that could have been harvested in the bays and estuaries all around the Irish coast. The causes of the Great Famine, both immediate and in the long term, as well as its appalling consequences, are succinctly presented.

The author outlines in laymans language the life cycle of the mussel, Mytilus edulis. Being a filter feeder, this bivalve mollusk has the capacity to monitor the presence of viruses, bacteria, and heavy metals in the surrounding seawater. Thus, marine pollution may be detected and controlled.

The author documents his pioneering work that spearheaded the development of the Irish mussel-farming industry. Currently, there are 375 people employed in Ireland in the harvesting of ten thousand tons annually of both rope-suspended and seabed-harvested mussels. He proceeds to give a concise account of the four internationally recognized mussel culture methods.

In the event of some future famine or global food shortage, the humble mussel could prove to be the ideal, cheap, plentiful, protein-rich food source to help mitigate the dire consequences of such a scenario.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Aug 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543486582

Michael Crowley

Michael Crowley, the youngest of ten children, was born in the year 1932 into a farming family in Ballywalter, County Cork. In 1946, he entered St. Colman’s College, Fermoy, where he received his secondary education. He graduated from the University College Dublin in 1963 with a bachelor of science degree. Having joined the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1966, he worked as a marine biologist until his retirement in 1988. He devoted over 25 years of his professional career to the study of mussels and mussel culture. His pioneering work in this field led to the development of the Irish mussel-farming industry. He is married to Mary, and they have two children and live in County Meath.

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Copyright © 2017 by Michael Crowley.

Library of Congress Control Number:    2017911725

ISBN:                 Hardcover                        978-1-5434-8660-5

                           Softcover                          978-1-5434-8659-9

                           eBook                               978-1-5434-8658-2

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Rev. date: 08/07/2017

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO PERSONALLY thank my good friend Neily Brosnan for his hard work and determination in assisting me in bringing this book to fruition. Neily ably assisted me in the final editing of this book, which was over and beyond any help I could have wished for.

FOREWORD

T HE STARVATION, DISEASE AND DEATH caused by the Great Famine (1845-49) could have been greatly alleviated, if not totally averted, had the people of Ireland known about mussel-farming and the abundant supply of this high-protein food source, that could have been harvested in the bays and estuaries all around the Irish coast. The causes of the Great Famine, both immediate and long-term, as well as its appalling consequences are succinctly presented.

The author, in layman’s language, outlines the life-cycle of the mussel (Mytilus edulis). Being a filter-feeder, this bivalve mollusc has the capacity to monitor the presence of viruses, bacteria and heavy metals in the surrounding seawater. This may allow marine pollution be detected and controlled.

The author documents his pioneering work that spearheaded the development of the Irish mussel-farming industry. Currently there are 375 people employed in Ireland, in the harvesting of 15,500 tonnes annually of both rope suspended and sea bed harvested mussels valued at 20.5million. He proceeds to give a concise account of the four internationally-recognised mussel-culture methods.

In the event of some future famine or global food shortage, the humble mussel could prove to be the ideal, cheap, plentiful, protein-rich food source to help mitigate the dire consequences of such a scenario.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

The Great Famine: Introduction

Irish Mussel Seminars

Intertidal and Subtidal Zones

Aquaculture of Mussels

Mussel Reproduction

Phytoplankton

Biology and Ecology of Mytilus edulis

Freshwater Estuary

Mussel Production in Ireland

Mussel Farming

Mussel Farming in Other Countries

Purification of Mussels

Selecting a Site

References

THE GREAT FAMINE: INTRODUCTION

I T IS WORTH QUOTING THE foreword to the 1956 book The Great Famine: Studies in Irish History 1845–52 ’ (Dudley Edwards and Williams), which was written to commemorate the centenary of the Great Famine.

‘It is difficult to know how many men and women died in Ireland in the famine years between 1845 and 1852. Perhaps all that matters is the certainty that many, very many died. The Great Famine was not the first, or the last, period of acute distress in Irish history. It may be seen as but a period of greater misery in a prolonged age of suffering, but it has left an enduring mark on the folk memory because of its duration and severity. The famine is seen as the source of many woes, the symbol of the exploitation of a whole nation by its oppressors. If only because of its importance in the shaping of Irish national thought, the famine deserves special examination. But it was much more than a mere symbol.

‘The economic and social influences of the famine were considerable; many of the most persistent trends in modern Irish life emerged with the famine, while the years of distress also saw the end of a phase in the agitation for national self-government. In Irish social and political history, the famine is very much a watershed. The Ireland on the other side of those dark days was a difficult world for us to understand. The Ireland that emerged we recognise as one with huge problems and a hostile neighbour’.

What I am proposing here is to use the young mussels Mytilus edulis more intelligently by transplanting them when they are just weeks old to suitable sheltered ground with adequate depth of seawater. In 12 months, they will have grown to commercial quality. There was no reason for the famine as the food to eliminate the famine was available in most, if not all, of the estuaries and bays around the country. The people may not have known the methods of extensively growing mussels or indeed all the other fish swimming around our coastal waters. This reminder is dedicated to the memory of the Great Famine and does not claim to be definitive. Rather, it is a detailed introduction to a topic which has shaped Irish history fundamentally.

The starvation and death that resulted from the blight of the potato crop could have been avoided had they known how to farm mussels intensively as we do today.

We now know how to farm mussels by removing them from where they settled in unsuitable ground and transferring them to a suitable environment where they have adequate shelter and seawater supply.

There is a specific bacterium that lives in the digestive system of all warm-blooded animals which sometimes is found in mussel tissue and is proof positive that warm-blooded animals are in the vicinity and