The rainbow cliffs of Gay Head, the commercial fishing boats of Menemsha, the ever-present MV bumper stickers, and other Vineyard icons may soon encounter a new kid on the block: golden mussels.
For the past year, the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, along with Scott Lindell of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, have been quietly working on a project to breed golden mussels (a variation of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis) in the hope of creating a brand identity for the Vineyard and bolstering the local shellfishing economy.
Golden mussels exist naturally around the Vineyard, but not in large numbers, and their shells often fade with age. The goal of the project is to create a unique product for local mussel growers.
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