Sea Bounty, St Leonards, VIC

A family-owned company that has been involved in the fishing industry for over 30 years, Sea Bounty has developed to be one of Australia’s leading mussel growing and processing companies. Sea Bounty farms mussels at a number of sites in the cool, clear waters of Port Phillip Bay, serviced by a fleet of specially equipped fishing vessels. A modern processing plant, built in 1997 and located at St Leonards on the Bellarine Peninsula south of Geelong, operates to the highest standards ensuring Sea Bounty’s reputation for top quality product. Being positioned close to the sea port of Melbourne and the international airports of Melbourne and Avalon enables Sea Bounty to supply every state in Australia as well as the Asian markets and the rest of the world on a daily basis, all year round. The benefits of SeaBounty’s mussel farming Currently, aquaculture is the fastest growing primary production sector in Australia. While most seafood sectors are fully maximised or declining, mussel aquaculture is growing, and meeting the criteria of environmentally sustainable development (ESD). This development is in a context that will ensure long-term regional employment and business prospects for the Bellarine Peninsula, now and into the future. And, in the wider context, skilled and trainee positions have been created in areas such as boat building, machinery fabrication, packaging and processing. Mussel farming is considered a relatively benign form of aquaculture as mussels do not require any active feeding by farmers. Mussels acquire their food supply by filtering phytoplankton from the surrounding water, thus acting as net removers of nutrients, which is generally regarded as being of benefit to the environment.