December 14, 2015 — The aquaculture project Salem State University marine research scientists hope might ultimately produce acres of mussels in a stretch of deep, open waters off the coast of Cape Ann has received the necessary permits to proceed.

Now all the project managers need is … what else? Money.

Mark R. Fregeau, a SSU marine biology professor, said the project he is managing with SSU colleague and collaborator Ted Maney has been green-lighted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will begin in earnest once they raise about $75,000 needed to begin laying the initial long lines upon which the mussels will grow.

The mussel aquaculture — or more simply, farm — will be located in federal waters, about 81/2 miles due east of Good Harbor Beach, at a site the researchers believe will provide the perfect environment for a deep-water mussel aquaculture that would be the first of its kind in the U.S.

“We’ve been authorized to put out a couple of (experimental) lines and see how they work and what issues might arise,” Fregeau said. “The reality is that until we actually get into the water, we don’t know exactly what we’ll be dealing with. So, it will be rolled out in phases, a couple lines at a time, and that will give us the opportunity to report back to the Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA.”

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times