![Belgium flexes its new locally sourced mussels](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/0d/03/0d/Belgium-flexes-its-new-locally-sour-162273.jpg)
-
Nissanka leaves Sri Lanka in sight of third Test win over England
-
Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show
-
Thousands defy roadblocks in rally for Pakistan ex-PM Khan
-
Roglic wins record-equalling fourth Vuelta
-
Russia advances in east Ukraine, launches deadly air strikes
-
Cowboys quarterback Prescott agrees record $240 mln extension
-
Swiss double in Paralympic wheelchair marathons, Dutch women retain basketball title
-
New 'Beetlejuice' creeps its way to top of N.America box office
-
South Africa captain Kolisi leaves Racing 92: French Top 14 club
-
Funeral for slain athlete Cheptegei in Uganda on Sept 14
-
Dolphins star Hill arrested on way to season-opener
-
Smith hits back after England collapse against Sri Lanka
-
Weather delays final regattas in Louis Vuitton Cup
-
Venezuela's Gonzalez Urrutia: from placeholder to opposition pointman
-
Marquez thanks rain for San Marino MotoGP win as leader Martin pays for gamble
-
Boeing, union reach preliminary deal to avert Seattle-area strike
-
Neuville wins Acropolis Rally to close in on world title
-
Venezuela's opposition figure fled to Spain to save 'his life'
-
Trump, Harris tied on eve of televised presidential debate
-
Paris Paralympics the greatest ever, say former Olympics executives
-
Pope exit revives Sri Lanka's hopes in third Test against England
-
Gunman kills 3 Israelis at West Bank crossing as Gaza war rages
-
Marquez wins San Marino MotoGP as leader Martin pays for rain gamble
-
Greece to hike fee for cruise passengers to Mykonos and Santorini
-
Carsley's 'refreshing' England overhaul launches new era
-
Swiss double in wheelchair marathons on final day of Paralympics
-
France's Le Pen urges Macron to hold referendum to break deadlock
-
Typhoon Yagi weakens, toll rises to 14 in Vietnam
-
India's Randhir Singh elected Asian Olympic chief
-
Under pressure, UN winds down 'unique' Iraq probe into IS crimes
-
'Proud' athletics great Weir calls time on marathon Paralympic career
-
'Brave' Afghanistan can beat anyone, says skipper ahead of NZ Test
-
Vaughan warns England against 'taking the mick' after Sri Lanka collapse
-
England's Moeen Ali retires from international cricket
-
Japan's Hirata holds off inspired Smyth to win on Asian Tour
-
China's Paralympic domination fails to ignite enthusiasm back home
-
Sporting a feathered headdress, Pope finds 'Eden' in Papua New Guinea
-
Super Typhoon Yagi toll rises to 9 in Vietnam after landslide
-
Indonesian villagers dress corpses in ritual for the dead
-
Williamson expects 'phenomenal' Root to keep breaking records
-
The end of Olympic escapism for gloomy France
-
Amy Adams gets real about motherhood in 'Nightbitch'
-
Venezuela says presidential opposition candidate has left country
-
Women ride Pakistan's economic crisis into the workplace
-
Wallabies 'fell of cliff' in loss to Pumas, says coach Schmidt
-
Child abuse scandals hang over pope's East Timor visit
-
Biden team, end in sight, keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks
-
Sabalenka dedicates US Open to family 'who never gave up' on dream
-
Venezuela takes diplomatic jab at Brazil in spat over election
-
Multiple people shot along highway in US state of Kentucky
![Belgium flexes its new locally sourced mussels](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/0d/03/0d/Belgium-flexes-its-new-locally-sour-162273.jpg)
Belgium flexes its new locally sourced mussels
It is a popular tradition to eat mussels in Brussels but what may surprise many is that none of the molluscs visitors enjoy are locally sourced in Belgium.
That is, until now. A Belgian supermarket group has taken on the challenge of harvesting local mussels, already reaping rich rewards, with business booming.
Off the coast of Nieuwpoort, near the French border, a crane hoists mussel-clad ropes onto a boat.
They are part of the 12-kilometre (seven-mile) network the Colruyt chain established in 2023.
Such a sight had never been seen in Belgium before and Colruyt hopes it will grow, especially to challenge the dominance of Dutch mussels in the local market.
"We harvest a tonne in about four hours, with four people. We would like in the future to do three to four tonnes a day," says Stijn Van Hoestenberghe, as he takes an AFP team to a mussel farm he manages.
This year Colruyt is counting on a harvest of 50 tonnes, up from six last year, and "maybe 200" in 2025, Van Hoestenberghe adds.
It's not easy work, Van Hoestenberghe admits, because of the strong sea currents, storms and dense maritime traffic in the area.
A far cry from the wide and deep Scheldt estuary where the renowned Zeeland mussel grows in the south of the Netherlands, which supplies much of the European market.
"The Dutch part of the delta is a gigantic protected zone, which makes it easier to set up (mussel) farms than in the open sea," explains Jerome Mallefet, marine biology expert at Belgium's UCLouvain University.
Establishing more mussels farms off the Belgian coast -- described by Mallefet as "a motorway for boats" -- is more difficult because of offshore wind turbines and trawling activity, the expert adds.
Today, experts estimate that Belgium, one of the biggest consumers of mussels in Europe alongside Spain, France and Denmark, gets more than 90 percent of its mussels from Dutch farmers in Zeeland.
- Foreign mussels roped in -
Despite the progress, Colruyt has greater ambitions to muscle into the market since its supplies will at best meet one percent of the needs of Belgium, where around 20,000 tonnes of mussels are consumed a year.
"It's clear that there's room for growth," the company says.
For now, Colruyt's "100-percent Belgian" mussels are delivered to four of its stores and around 15 restaurants in Belgium.
One of its arguments for developing the market is that the mussels are "sustainably" farmed since the ropes used are made from recycled fishing nets.
Mussels are a seasonal foodstuff. The best time to eat them, say experts, is when the size and flesh have developed, usually from September to December.
On the historical Grand Place in Brussels, a major tourist destination in Belgium, a restaurant owner tells AFP he offers the highly popular traditional dish of mussels and fries on his menu all year round.
Like his customers, his mussels come from around Europe.
"We have many people eating mussels here... So we have Zeelandese mussels between June and February, and after that we have Danish mussels, or even German mussels, depending on demand," says Jean-Philippe Bosman, owner of the Le Roy d'Espagne restaurant.
"Having a local producer is good but they would need to supply us with the quantities we want on time... and that is more complicated."
C.Amaral--PC