Who Are We
Offshore Shellfish is a family run business, founded by John and Nicki Holmyard, who have been involved in the mussel and seafood industries for more than 30 years.
We are building the UK’s first large-scale, fully offshore, rope cultured mussel farm off the coast of South Devon, in a challenging marine environment.
The development uses a combination of specially designed and adapted technology to cultivate the native blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, on suspended ropes at three sites between 3 and 6 miles offshore in Lyme Bay, South Devon.
The three sites will cover a total area of 15.4 square km and produce around 10,000 tonnes per year once fully developed.
The offshore location and the size of the farms enable the mussels to be cultivated at low density, which is beneficial for quality, rate of growth and meat content.
Mussels are filter feeders so their quality is closely associated with the environment in which they are grown. Our mussels are grown away from the shore in the open sea, where they are constantly supplied with clean, plankton-rich oceanic water.
Provenance, sustainability, health benefits, food safety, freshness, and traceability are strong drivers in the marketplace for seafood, and mussels produced by Offshore Shellfish meet all of these.
Rope grown mussels are acknowledged worldwide by environmental groups as being a highly sustainable form of seafood production and are recommended as a ‘best choice’ or ‘super green option’ in the Marine Conservation Society ‘Good Fish Guide‘.
They are also highly rated by top chefs, who appreciate their clean shells, high meat content, and the absence of mud or grit.
We work with many different science partners to further our environmental understanding. This video looks at the compostion of mussel shells and how they can tell us about environmental conditions.
Offshore Shellfish
Offshore Shellfish is a family run business, founded by John and Nicki Holmyard, who have been involved in the mussel and seafood industries for 30 years.
Offshore Shellfish are building the UK’s first large-scale fully offshore, rope cultured mussel farm off the coast of South Devon.
Get In Touch
Offshore Shellfish Ltd, Brixham Laboratory, Freshwater Quarry, Brixham, TQ5 8BA