Alan M wrote:
Sounds like fun -
- go see Brett and buy a wetsuit.....it will be more fun.
I also like to grab a few mussels of the odd jetty or navigation marker and have often wondered when doing this there is a rule - no gathering shellfish in under 2m of water - does this mean you can gather shellfish as long the water underneath you is 2m + or do you need to be 2m+ under the water when gathering? Perhaps someone wise can answer....
I have one of these wetsuits on order:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Skeleton-3mm ... bgDPUZpXQgIt's super cheap so I'm very curious to see how it holds up. The reviews on Amazon (US site) make it seem ok.
Yeah, I'm not sure about the rule. The thing with mussels is that they all stick to pylons that are at, or incredibly close to, the water's surface. My memory's fuzzy, but I don't remember seeing any sticking around at 2M or below. I doubt anyone would ever give you any hassles over mussels though - they're so prolific.
A few things about mussels though:
1. Cleaning them is a HUGE pain in the ass. You have to scrub them with a steel scrubbing pad one by one to get all the gunk off of their shells. Then take pliers and remove the beard. Do this 100x or whatever for a single large pot of mussels.
2. Big shell does NOT equal big meat. Some of the smallest meaty portions have been found in the largest shells.
IMO abalone are kinda perfect. They just sit there in rocks and they're easy to get. A single ab can be cleaned with the meat removed in 3 minutes, so 15 minutes for five abs. Versus ages of cleaning for mussels. Plus no speargun required - plastic spatula is fine.