The Teign Estuary partnership has been working hard to ensure Teign mussels are kept on the menu.

Part of the Teign Cycleau Project, which ends in December, the partnership has been looking at ways to promote and highlight Teign shellfish, and aid its regeneration. More than 800 questionnaires were sent out to shops, hoteliers, pubs and restaurants, to find out where they source their mussels while promoting shellfishery on the Teign at the same time.

'The results were very promising,' said Graeme Smith, Teign Estuary Partnership officer. 'Thirty seven per cent said they sourced their mussels locally, and half of those from the River Teign.' It was also clear there is a high demand for Teign shellfish, with 58 per cent of replies requesting contact details of the Teign shellfishermen. 'Our mussels always come from the Teign, you can't beat them,' said restaurateur Helga Stevenson, who ordered them by the bucket for a Delicious Devon evening at The Owl and The Pussycat Restaurant, Teignmouth, this week. The project also looked at ways to protect and improve shellfish waters and new approaches to production. A lack of confidence in the way mussels are tested spurred an evaluation of methods used in the UK, compared with France. The results from France came back in just 18 hours while the results from Exeter took up to four days.

'It was something that needed to be done. The more information they find out, the better it is for us and the public,' said mussel fisher Billy Hook, who has been fishing the Teign for more than 30 years. 'Although the results were very similar, the speed we would get them back would allow us to identify and deal with any problems much more quickly.' In response to worries that a rise in popularity of the Teign mussels could cause over-farming he stated: 'We're not greedy, we understand there is a fine balance to mussel farming. We only harvest one bed a year and the worst thing we could do is outstrip the beds.' Mr Smith said: 'The project has been an incredible learning experience and the information can be put to good use in future European projects that the Teign Estuary Partnership may be involved in.'