Prior to our efforts, collection of California Mussels was fine for personal use. We would collect mussels to make tasty dishes after our dives. Commercial harvesting was not allowed. Richard C. Williams of The Mussel Company lobbied the State of California Fish & Game and Health Departments to change the law. It took 5 years, but in the end, commercial harvesting of California Mussels was permitted.

Eating California Mussel in restaurants was made possible by these actions.

We applied for a Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) matching grant from the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1981, we were awarded $16,000 to match the investment of La Mer Bleu Productions to harvest mussels from Platform Hilda.