Founded over twenty years ago, it is the only company in North America using bottom-culture techniques developed in Europe; in fact, the company especially commissioned the only bottom culture vessel in North America, called the St. George. The mussel boat is designed to transfer one-year-old seed mussels to shallow salt water growing areas or leases.

	The cold clean waters of the Gulf of Maine produce the sweetest shellfish.

Great Eastern produces the maximum amount of food per acre of ocean bottom: The same amount of edible protein comes from just one acre of mussel lease as comes from 200 acres of prime cattle grazing land. Having developed a scientific model which allows Great Eastern to predict mussel growth rates, the company is able to select ocean bottom sites based on the maximum water flow which brings the maximum food (plankton) to the mussels.

Great Eastern's customers tell them that they appreciate the fact that the company uses no feed, antibiotics, chemicals or additives in their all-natural product. Great Eastern mussels feed only on the plankton and other organic matter that naturally occur in the ocean.

Great Eastern's catch is pre-sold; they only harvest what they can sell; therefore, at Great Eastern, there is no waste from excess catch that goes unsold or sold at reduced prices.

Mussel boats wash their harvest over the lease beds in order to drop seed mussels back into the ocean. Since seed mussels are returned to the ocean, Great Eastern effectively replants as it harvests.

At Great Eastern, there is virtually no bi-catch of any kind (bi-catch are species which are caught inadvertently and brought up with the target species); 99.9% of each day's harvest is mussels.

Whereas some species are sold "boat run" (as is, off the boat), Great Eastern's further processing at the plant in Tenants Harbor, Maine, increases the quality and value of the mussels, yielding the maximum economic benefit from the raw resource. This "processing" includes purging out any sand or grit in pure sea water, grading the shellfish for size, de-bearding and putting the product into attractive, branded packaging ready for the pot.

	Great Eastern Mussel Farms delivery trucks mean quality.

Usually, most seafood is a commodity that comes with no packaging, preparation instructions or recipes. In the supermarket, Great Eastern markets its mussels in a 2 pound poly bag with holes that allow drainage and also let the mussels breathe. Printed on its unique packaging, the company provides a lot number, a "use by" date, consumer handling and cooking instructions. Great Eastern has strived to create brand recognition in its national markets.

By so doing, the company has developed consumer confidence that is unprecedented in the seafood industry. Company founder and president, Chip Davison, says "We want to the be 'Campbell Soup' of shellfish."

During the mid '90s, Great Eastern made a concerted effort to deal with its waste which consists of broken and defective mussels. The elegant solution for their problem was to "turn one man's trash into another man's treasure." By spinning off a company called Coast of Maine that produces compost and potting soil, Great Eastern not only solved its own waste problem, but also provided a market for the waste from local salmon farmers and blueberry producers.

Great Eastern helps monitor sea water quality, since matured, healthy mussels which live on naturally-occurring plankton, are a bellwether of water quality.

Because Great Eastern takes its responsibility of the stewardship of the shellfish resource so seriously, they have embarked on a program which will provide them not only with bottom cultured mussels, but also with raft cultured mussels in the future. This dual method seeding program guarantees a supply for the future.

Great Eastern Mussel Farms is a model, in microcosm, of where the seafood industry should be going in the new millennium.