Journal Press India^®

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With continuing globalisation, there is increased competitive pressure on rural economies especially those rural regions producing commodities for the world market. Identifying and exploiting smaller specialist markets with products that can be produced locally is one strategy for diversifying local economies. In this paper, the recent development of the Irish mussel industry is examined. The development of the industry is set in its national context and a detailed analysis of the supply chain is undertaken. While the Irish industry is small relative to major international players such as China, Thailand and Spain, its development has assisted local economies with limited development opportunities. The mussel industry in Ireland is the largest aquaculture sector in terms of tonnage and second only to salmon in terms  of value. The total production volume of mussels in 2004 was 37,315 tonnes. The industry is split into two main production techniques: bottom mussels (naturally growing on the seabed and harvested using special dredging techniques) and rope mussels (cultivated on rope structures in an aquaculture environment). The principle challenge for the Irish mussel industry is environmental regulation. Despite strong demand for the product, growth of the industry is hampered by a difficulty in getting approval for licences and this delays many potential producers from getting involved in production and forces unlicensed producers to cease production. This results in a lower regional output than would otherwise be the case and also results in supply not being able to meet demand. Linked to this are regulations that protect an attractive landscape, these regulations impact on production as many licence applications are refused this has an adverse impact on the amount of mussels produced.

Keywords

Mussel Industry, Supply Chain.

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