The oyster beds of Calvados under guard for the end of year celebrations
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Notice of major passage on the Géfosse-Fontenay slipway. This Monday, December 18, the ballet of tractors is intense as they leave the oyster beds. It is the peak period in the 250 ha of parks in Calvados, in Asnelles and between Grandcamp-Maisy and Géfosse. Half of the 6,200 tonnes of annual oysters is consumed during the holidays. A peak of activity under guard this month of December.
At the top of the beach, Adeline Furet, deputy of the Caen coastal surveillance brigade, stops tractors. “We check the identity of the people on board, the identification number of the vehicle and see if it corresponds to the oyster farmer and the plot granted to him. Also see if the pockets are well labeled and correspond to the park,” explains the maritime gendarme. A way to check good practices but also theft. “To avoid small thefts of 100 or 150 kg which would be sold on the street,” notes Thierry Hélie, president of the Channel/North Sea regional shellfish farming committee. It can exist. It’s better that it be curbed right away.” The police are therefore mobilized, through road checks, and motorcycle or horse patrols, without forgetting more or less visible surveillance.
Perched on a trailer, an employee says he is “safe.” It feels less lonely “. In Calvados, thefts are quite rare and the risk is therefore very controlled. However, not all worries are chased away during this prosperous period. Starting with the economic context. The price is falling. “It’s a big issue,” warns Thierry Hélie. In production, we sell at a loss and in shipping, we have had to reduce our margins by 8 to 15%. If, in the big stores, you cannot find oysters 8 to 15% cheaper, go buy them directly or from fishmongers.” The manager grumbles against a context which does not allow “to sell oysters at the right price, while businesses are also affected by inflation.
“A lot of health monitoring work”
Weighed down by a certain commercial gloom, the producers of the Géfosse-Fontenay parks are all the more gloomy about the mortality which is affecting some of the shellfish, particularly those closest to the estuary, in the Bay of Veys. An oyster farmer protests against the management of dams on rivers, which have reportedly released too much fresh water due to heavy rains. However, the salinity level plays a role in these deaths, particularly of adult oysters.
Coming to attend the control operations on December 18, the prefect of Calvados Stéphane Bredin said he was aware of the problem: “The product is very dependent on the quality of the environment. It varies on the coast. There is a lot of health monitoring work, which also increases as the holidays approach. And to plan ahead: “Offshore wind farms are an opportunity to think about other methods of oyster farming, in the open sea, far from the specific risks of the coastline”. Still distant prospects, to be reconciled with the artisanal model of local operations. In the shorter term, good news, the quality analyzes of the environment are good in mid-December.
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