The Potomac Riverkeeper Network has expanded its mussel-growing operation on the Potomac River with what the group is calling a “science barge.”
The 80-foot-by-30-foot vessel serves as a floating platform for specially designed cages used to raise mussels. A pair of “floating upwellers” holds up to 4,000 mussels at any one time in the river throughout the year while keeping them off the bottom, where they would be susceptible to being smothered by sediment.
The barge is based at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD. The Riverkeeper group launched the “50 Million Mussel Project” there in 2019 with the installation of a mussel nursery next to its floating lab on the MV Sea Dog.
The addition of the upwellers allows the organization to raise mussels in far larger volumes, officials say. The group also says it enables further studies on water quality, habitat resilience and ecosystems services in partnership with Virginia Tech and Georgetown University.
By restoring the Potomac’s mussel population, the Riverkeeper Network hopes that cleaner waters won’t be far behind. Like oysters, mussels are filter feeders that can siphon out pollutants, such as nutrients and sediment.
