Mussel-Byssus Panels Replace a Section of Nylon Gillnet in a Sea Trial
A materials group in the Institute for Coastal Resilience finished a six-week sea trial in September 2025 with the North Pacific Fleet Cooperative. Four gillnet panels made from a mussel-byssus composite replaced nylon panels on one working net. All four were recovered. The account is in the Journal of Cleaner Production, Nguyen and Pell, 2025.
Why byssus
Mussel byssus is the thread a mussel uses to hold the rock. The laboratory has been pressing washed threads, a small amount of alginate binder, and a linen scrim into panels since 2023. The appeal is not that the panel is “natural.” The appeal is that a lost panel does not add another nylon fragment to a net that already sheds. The panel has to be strong enough that a crew will actually hang it.
The trial
The cooperative assigned one vessel, the F/V Yarrow Light, and one net. Four nylon panels came off. Four composite panels went on. The boat fished its ordinary grounds for six weeks. Crew members logged tears, stiffness, and whether the panel fouled. The university did not pay the boat to change its fishing plan. We paid for the panels and for the time the skipper spent on the log, which was $4,800.
What we will not say
The trial does not show that the panel is ready to sell, that it biodegrades on a set schedule in the sea, or that a fleet should switch. It shows that four panels survived six weeks of ordinary work and came home. The next step is a season-long trial on three boats, which the cooperative has agreed to discuss in January 2026. No order has been placed.