Tenacious Belgian Immigrant Pioneered Canada’s Mussel Industry in the 1970s

Joe Van Den Bremt, centre, is shown with his son Henri Van Den Bremt and wife Agnes Van Den Bremt in this undated handout image. The Canadian Press/HO

CHARLOTTETOWN—When Joe Van Den Bremt first floated the idea of producing cultured mussels on P.E.I. in the 1970s, the local fishermen laughed at him.

“They were all telling me, ’We use that stuff for fertilizer,’” he said in 2017. “’Nobody is going to eat those dumb things.’”