ThunderBay, owned by Tim Levesque
of Trenton, has been refitted to grow
mussels on rafts instead of harvesting fish.

After working with Great Eastern Mussel Farms of Tenants Harbor, Levesque seized the opportunity to contract out ThunderBay, which it turns out was perfectly suited to seeding mussel rafts.

There are 14 40-foot by 40-foot mussel rafts along the coast of Maine that produce top quality cultured mussels. Most of the production is sold to Great Eastern, which markets them as "Choice Cultured Mussels" and successfully sells the plumpest shellfish available to restaurants around the United States.

After installing a mussel seeding machine on ThunderBay, Levesque had the ability to wrap small 4-month-old mussels (known as seed mussels) with biodegradable cotton mesh around the 40-foot ropes that are used to suspend the mussels off the ocean's bottom. He also can grade the seed for uniform size, before running them through the machine. The large fish hold on the vessel is ideal for storing fish totes full of seed mussels.

Each raft supports 400 ropes that run more than three miles in combined length. The boat's net reel can be used to change the predator nets that surround each raft. Because only a few rafts are placed in a growing area, and because the area is chosen for having good ocean currents, the maximum amount of feed (plankton) gets to the mussels.

In 14 months, the raft's owners, who had contracted ThunderBay to seed their rafts, can harvest their crop of mussels full of plump meats. The harvest will become part of the $100 million aquaculture industry in Maine.

According to Sebastian Belle of the Maine Aquaculture Association, Maine has the largest overall marine aquaculture industry in the nation.

According to Terence Callery, Great Eastern sales manager, sustainable aquaculture will become the norm in 25 years, with more edible protein coming from farms like Great Eastern than from the traditional wild fisheries.

"This is an all-natural product, where nothing is ever added. It is low in fat and high in protein and it is an excellent value to the consumer. This is why the per capita consumption of mussels has doubled in the past five years," Callery said.

Next year ThunderBay will contract out an estimated 100 days to seed rafts and to help maintain them. That, combined with 60 days of ground fishing, makes the boat economically viable.

The Levesques' livelihood from the Gulf of Maine, which has been a tradition for generations, appears to be more certain as they shift gears, planting mussel seed instead of harvesting from the ocean.

Tim Levesque said, "This mussel thing is getting so big, pretty soon I'm not going to have time to fish."