HE’S MUSSELING IN For Matt Moretti ’06, harvesting mussels from Maine’s Casco Bay melds family, sustainability, and a love for the ocean pho to g raphy by jo sh k u c k e ns text by ad am tok ar z ’ 0 6 Maine native Matt Moretti ’06 has always loved the ocean. “From the beginning, I’ve been interested in the sea and the way organisms function, in a biological sense,” he says. “And while I had that interest, it was always a nondescript, undefined kind of love for natural processes. It wasn’t fully formed.” At Bates, Moretti’s passion began to take shape as he majored in biology and took marine biology courses, amassing knowledge that would eventually support a stint at the New England Aquarium, a Northeastern
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master’s program in marine biology, and global sojourns to far-flung ecosystems like Mo’orea in the South Pacific, where an encounter with French Polynesian shrimp farmers turned on a light bulb. “I realized the traditional ocean research track wasn’t what I wanted to do [with my life],” he says, so after his time in Mo’orea and Catalina, as part of his master’s work, “aquaculture presented itself as a tangible something I could do, not just be interested in.” Moretti returned to his home state, eager for experience and work. He found it
on an oyster farm, where he cultivated his love for aquaculture. Then he learned that a Casco Bay mussel farm was for sale, and in 2010, Moretti and his dad, Gary, bought Bangs Island Mussels. For some, mixing business and family would be an instant recipe for disaster, but Moretti appreciates his business arrangement. “Dad’s given me a lot of freedom to do things in the business that I wouldn’t have had in a more traditional relationship with a business partner. He puts a lot of faith in my ability to help make