European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE: MUSSEL MUSSEL (MYTILUS EDULIS AND MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS)

Mytilus edulis (1) and Mytilus galloprovincialis (2)

BIOLOGY AND HABITAT

• Species description (Read more (1) (2)) Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs. Mytilus edulis (blue mussel) and Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mediterranean mussel) are the main species of the family of Mytilidae consumed and produced in the EU.

• Geographical distribution and habitat (Read more (1) (2)) Mussels are found in a wide variety of habitats, from tidal areas to fully submerged zones, with a broad range of temperatures and salinities.

RESOURCE, EXPLOITATION AND MANAGEMENT

• Production methods and fishing gears (Read more (1) (2)) Even if mussels are also caught in the wild, they are mainly farmed. The main fishing gears used are dredges and trawls. When farmed, mussels are produced using bottom culture techniques (sheltered beds) or suspended and off-bottom (rafts, bouchots, longlines).

Source : Information system on commercial designations (1) (2) European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels CATCHES

Evolution of world catches • At global level, catches of the two species of mussels amounted at 49.776 tonnes in 2018 (i.e. 0,05% of global catches), of which Mytilus edulis represented 96% and Mytilus galloprovincialis 4%.

Denmark United States of America Others

25.959 7.617 21.393 8.406 14.101 16.433 11.085 11 006 4.074 9.324 13 368 3.399 9 287 9 922 8 618 10 914 7 811 8 699 14 881

10 859 Tonnes 45.300 39.426 41.363 42.909 40.644 39.382 37.447 34.443 37.491 27.872

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: FAO Evolution of EU catches • In 2018, the EU accounted for 84% of the global catches of Mytilus edulis et Mytilus galloprovincialis. • The same year, Denmark provided 95% of the EU catches of both species. Others Denmark

25.304 18.863 6.757 7.591 9.753 6.944 14.251 2.871 2.196

7.766

45.300 42.909 Tonnes 39.426 41.363 40.644 39.382 37.447 34.443 37.491 27.872

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: FAO

In both charts, the fluctuation of volume under the category « others » is linked to irregular data availability for Germany during the studied period. European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION Evolution of world aquaculture production • From 2009 to 2018, the global mussel’s aquaculture production increased by 8%, driven mainly by the growth of the Spanish production. • Global mussel aquaculture production reached around 2.113.000 tonnes in 2018, out of which Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis represented 27%. The following chart focuses on the global production of these two species*. Spain Others Italy France Netherlands Canada 27 21 46 26 23 25 24 46 26 37 29 25 44 54 53 57 56 40 54 65 26 57 77 57 62 77 37 58 57 70 64 77 80 74 64 64 64 86

tonnes 64 63 86 97 64 68 80 94 99 87 76 1.000 75 284 242 199 209 204 220 225 216 189 162

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: FAO Evolution of EU aquaculture production • In 2018, the EU provided 25% of the global mussels’ production and 84% of the global production of Mytilus galloprovincialis and Mytilus edulis. • From 2009 to 2018, the EU production of both species has increased by 7%. • The top-four EU producers (Spain, Italy, France and Netherlands) accounted for 85% of the EU production in 2018. Spain Italy France Netherlands Others 78

93 90 72 85 78 80 68 61 46 44 46 37 68 54 54 57 56 40 53 57 65 37 77 77 58 57 57 62 70 64 74 64

tonnes 64 77 80 63 64 64

64 1.000 284 220 225 216 242 199 189 209 204 162

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: FAO * For Spain, data are reported under the statistical category ‘sea mussels nei’, which corresponds to Mytilus galloprovincialis and to lesser extent to Mytilus edulis. For UK, data are reported under the category Metilidea. European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels PROCESSING

• Mussels are mostly sold live, but can also be sold processed, canned, marinated or prepared dishes (mussels in sauce).

• 2 PRODCOM codes partly refer to these mussel products : ⁻ 10 20 32 50: “molluscs (scallop, mussels, cuttlefish, squid and octopus), frozen, dried, salted or in brine”. ⁻ 10 20 34 00: “crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates and seaweed, otherwise prepared or preserved”.

Spain is the main producer of processed mussel in the EU (mainly canned mussels). In 2019, it produced 14.406 tonnes of canned mussels (net weight) (Source: Spanish association of canned fish: Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Conservas de Pescados, ANFACO). European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels TRADE

• EU imports-exports Concerning the genus Mytilus, which is produced in EU, trade is mainly intra-EU. Extra-EU trade concerns other species than Mytilus spp.

EU trade of mussels (tonnes - 2019)

CN code Product EU imports EU exports 03 07 31 10 Mussels “Mytilus spp.", Live, fresh or chilled 29 1.830 03 07 31 90 Mussels "Perna spp.", live, fresh or chilled, with or without shell 1 112 03 07 32 10 Mussels “Mytilus spp.", frozen 47 490 03 07 32 90 Mussels "Perna spp.", frozen, even in shell 4.486 126 03 07 39 20 Mussels “Mytilus spp.", smoked, dried, salted or in brine 1 156 03 07 39 80 Mussels "Perna spp.", smoked, dried, salted or in brine, even in shell 162 61 16 05 53 10 Mussels, prepared or preserved, in airtight containers 7.632 983 16 05 53 90 Mussels, prepared or preserved, other 27.994 748

Extra-EU suppliers: • All preserved mussels imported to the EU come from Chile (35.512 tonnes). Spain, France and Italy are the main importers of preserved mussels (together they represented 79% of EU mussels’ imports in 2019). These are constituted by other mussels’ species than Mytilus spp.

Extra-EU destinations: Mussels’ exports concern mainly live and fresh mussels (44%) and prepared and preserved mussels (39%). Main destinations are: • for fresh mussels : Switzerland (1.037 tonnes) and Tunisia (310 tonnes), • for prepared/preserved mussels: USA (388 tonnes), Switzerland (186 tonnes), and Egypt (116 tonnes).

Source: EUROSTAT-COMEXT European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels

Supply balance EU supply balance (20181) – Tonnes of live weight equivalent2 - Mussels: Production data concern Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis while trade data include other species of cod.

Production Import 567.932 tonnes 124.565 tonnes

Supply Export 692.497 tonnes 7.884 tonnes

Apparent consumption 684.613 tonnes

Source: FAO/ EUROSTAT-COMEXT

1 Supply balance is provided for the year 2018 (trade data for 2018 were taken into account). Detailed trade data provided in the slide 5 concern the year 2019. 2 The conversion factors were used to convert net weight of imports and exports of fishery and aquaculture products into live weight equivalents. European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels PRICES ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN (EUR/kg) First-sale (live/fresh) First-sale prices are presented for the top-3 EU producers in the EU. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source Denmark (Blue mussel) 0,14 0,15 0,16 0,2 0,24 0,26 0,32 0,33 0,33 0,32 EUMOFA Italy (Med. mussel) n.a. n.a. 0,89 0,96 1,16 1,45 1,32 1,41 1,58 1,85 EUMOFA n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2,43 2,34 2,64 1,06 n.a. Spain (Blue mussel) EUMOFA Spain (Med. mussel) n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 0,91 0,71 1,49 1,8 1,52 EUMOFA Wholesale (fresh) Wholesale prices are provided for the largest seafood wholesale market in the EU, Mercamadrid. Most frequent 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source prices Spain 1,81 1,66 1,92 1,92 1,92 1,9 1,97 1,91 1,73 Mercamadrid

Retail/consumption (fresh) Retail prices refer to Denmark, France and Spain major consuming countries in the EU. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source Denmark 7,76 7,61 6,21 4,85 3,92 4,50 3,80 5,02 4,79 8,04 EUMOFA Spain 3,09 3,09 3,03 2,83 2,85 2,94 2,98 3,02 3,13 n.a. EUMOFA France (in bulk) 3,61 3,7 3,8 3,9 4,08 4,21 4,32 4,5 4,72 4,72 EUMOFA Import (prepared/preserved) Extra-EU imports concern prepared/preserved mussels (from species other than Mytilus spp.) In 2019, the main importers were Spain, France and Italy.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source Spain 2,31 2,51 2,66 2,83 2,82 3,34 3,07 3,20 3,09 3,12 EUMOFA France 1,64 1,78 1,93 2,07 2,18 2,66 2,40 2,32 2,19 2,42 EUMOFA Italy 2,07 2,17 2,03 2,23 2,25 2,77 2,38 2,40 2,17 2,36 EUMOFA Export (fresh) Extra-EU exports concern mainly fresh mussels. In 2019, France, Italy and the Netherlands were the main exporters.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source France 4,55 5,11 5,73 4,02 4,10 3,83 3,57 3,39 3,48 3,85 EUMOFA Itay 2,45 3,87 2,95 3,34 3,66 3,94 5,03 5,19 5,45 4,17 EUMOFA Spain 3,39 2,50 2,39 2,23 2,40 2,28 2,55 2,94 2,65 3,06 EUMOFA European market observatory for fisheries and aquaculture products SPECIES PROFILE Mussels

MARKETING ASPECTS

• Commercial designations in all EU official languages (Read more (1) (2)) • Mussels are not covered by marketing standards

CONSUMPTION

• Mussel apparent consumption per capita in Nutritional value Blue mussel 2018: 1,21 kg live weight equivalent (source: kilo calories (kcal) 103 The EU Fish Market – 2020 edition, Kilojoule (kJ) 435 Water (g) 74,1 EUMOFA). Ashes (g) 1,5 Proteins (g) 17,2 Carbohydrates (g) 6,2 • Nutritional value (Blue mussel, Atlantic, Lipids (g) 1 cooked, values per 100 g – source: Cholesterol (mv) 59 NUTRAQUA/AQUIMER) Omega 6 (mg) 107 Omega 3 (mg) 684 EPA (mg) 340 DHA (mg) 214