Meet the fishermen: Kenny, Shetland mussels

Kenny Pottinger has been a mussel fisherman for 18 years. He now works alongside his son, Craig, on his mussel vessel, the ​Celtic Queen, in the beautiful Shetland Islands. We caught up with him to ask what life is like as a Shetland mussel fisherman.

Always a fisherman

"I have always been interested in fishing and the sea. As a schoolboy, I set creels and fitted in hauling them around school, youth club and football. When I left school, I joined the crew of various whitefish fishing boats, which afforded me the opportunity to gain my skipper and engineer tickets.

"I have been in mussel fishing for 18 years. My interest was first sparked by my uncle, who was one of the islands’ mussel fishing pioneers. Then, when my son was born, I decided I didn’t want to be spending weeks at sea, when I could be home with my family, so running my own mussel business became a reality. I can now come home to my wife, Shyrleen, and the family (which now includes three young daughters) every day."

In the beginning, the catches were small. Kenny remembers harvesting 24 tonnes of mussels in the first year, but that number slowly increased to the five-six hundred tonnes that they catch today.

What is it like going out when the weather is at its worst and best?

"The best and worst of mussel fishing comes in the form of the extremities of the environment in which we operate. There is nowhere I’d rather be than on-site with a bonny day, although Shetland is one of those places where you can experience four seasons in one day: rainbows appear in the sky after a ten-minute downpour, followed by bright sunshine. The worst is being out when there is a lot wind and snow or rain. It can be minus 2 or 3 degrees but the wind chill can make it feel much colder.

"Shetland often sees the worst of weather in January and February. We always put safety first and avoid going out in particularly challenging weather conditions."

Mussels for future generations

Craig, Kenny’s son, has been working full-time alongside his dad since he left school. The two get along really well on the boats, and Kenny says that he’s a “good worker”. 

Why is the location so perfect for growing mussels?

"The waters around Shetland are perfectly suited for growing mussels on ropes suspended in the sea. The sea is clean and rich with plankton and marine life upon which mussels thrive. They extract their food by filtering seawater (which can be as much as 50 litres per day). Mussels normally grow on the seabed but by growing them on ropes, they are out of reach of most predators and, as a result, grow much larger and are free from any grit and sand."