Grow Food Under Water – The Penn Cove Shellfish Story

The dozens of rafts anchored in neat rows along the south shore of Penn Cove may seem a mystery to some, but they are the Promised Land for mussel-lovers. Like the tip of an iceberg, they are the visible part of Penn Cove Shellfish LLC, a major local aquaculture operation and the world's largest grower of mussels.

Mussels grow encrusted on lines suspended from these rafts, and local crews harvest them by raising the lines from the water.

General manager Ian Jefferds and farm manager Tim Jones oversee an operation that has earned worldwide acclaim for the flavor of its product. They attribute this to its freshness and the unique growing conditions in Penn Cove, which Jefferds describes as a "nutrient soup" of lower-than-average salinity, thanks to the fresh-water influence of the nearby Skagit River.

The combination of fresh water from the Skagit River and sunshine from the rain-shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains results in ideal growing conditions. And unlike other forms of aquaculture, mussels require no feeding. They filter everything they need directly from the water.

The Jefferds family has been growing mussels on Penn Cove since the 1970s, when they first visited the area on a low-tide day and noticed mussels clinging to every exposed surface.