Bulgarian mussels occupy restaurant tables in coastal areas of neighboring Romania, despite calls for authorities to favor aquaculture in Romanian waters.
Los black mussels produced in Romania They are exclusively wild, collected at great depths and rocky areas. Although they are as good as Bulgariansson smaller and much rarer than those produced by aquaculture.
Romanian businessman Matei Datcu tells ‘Euronews’ that most mussels What do they serve in their restaurant? they get them from Bulgaria. “We try to raise them ourselves and collect them in the Black Sea, in our area. But all kinds of problems have arisen (…) and they push us towards the Bulgarians, which doesn’t seem right to me at all.”
Datcu lleva years waiting for the green light from the authorities to be able to grow Romanian mussels in the sea, near the restaurant he owns. It has invested in storage spaces and sand cleaning machines for bivalves, which are no longer in use.
“Here we have a desanding station. I didn’t invent her, she is from Italy, certified and everything. The shells should have been taken from the sea, brought here, sanded, cleaned, analyzed and sent directly to the tourists’ tables,” says Datcu, who assures that “practically everything is ready, except the legislation appropriate.”
Mussel tourism in the neighboring country
Romanians have been consuming mussels from Bulgaria for a long time and often also They go directly to the neighboring country to get them. The famous Bulgarian mussel farms of Dalboka are a gold mine for traders. The black mussels are collected directly from the sea and then transported by boat to the restaurant, where diners can enjoy them. Many of those who come to eat at Bulgarian restaurants are Romaniansfans of fresh fish and seafood from the Black Sea.
Without an agreement like the one Matei Datcu longs for, the Romanian coast risks losing tourists who, in search of mussels as famous as those from Bulgaria, could cross the border with neighboring country.
Additional sources • Diana Sobaru
