Introduction The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) culture occurs in temperate waters around the world under a wide range of environmental conditions, e.g. at phytoplankton concentrations below as 1-2 µg L-1 (in Norwegian fjords) up to 9-10 µg L-1 (in French Atlantic coastal sites). Under such contrasted food resources, the aim of our study is to develop a generic bio-energetic model for M. edulis, i.e. that can be applied in various contrasted environments with a constant set of parameters, to simulate growth and reproduction of the blue mussel. Such a model will allow us to assess directly the links between mussel growth performances and environmental parameters in different culture sites.