At the opening of the scallop fishing in the bay of the Seine, Port-en-Bessin (Calvados) welcomes a whole armada of shellfish. In addition to the twenty local boats, about sixty others coming from all the coast of Granville to Hauts-de-France, find themselves tight against the docks.
At 9:30 a.m., this Thursday, November 12,Alter Ego, an old 12-meter wooden trawler crosses the open locks. The day promises to be good. Quentin Yonnet, the owner of the port trawler, is fishing, in slow motion, for the third and last tide of this opening week. Concentrated.
When experience speaks …
The last few weeks have been okay, but the weather hasn’t been great. Sometimes it took tides of 24 hours, or even 36 hours, to make the quota of 1.8 tonnes for boats less than 15 meters. However, the area had not been rinsed by the British until 1is October. This year, they arrived at the same time as us.
Fortunately, the prices have been good, sometimes very good, up to 4 € / kg.
Inside the bay, the shell is present, in quantity and quality. It is even early in maturity: the nut is firm and well coralized. We deliver a top product right away!
appreciates Quentin Yonnet.
But in the middle of some 200 boats, it’s not easy to find your place. After a disappointing first stroke, theAlter Ego shifts just a bit as his crew adjusts the length of the warps. The following three lines, of about twenty minutes each, are a hit. Experience has spoken …
“The fallow? Something unthinkable twenty years ago! “
The area is indeed full, with many two to four year old shells “, confirms the fisherman who thanks the fallow. “In 2004, we had to close the fishery because of toxic algae and the following season was excellent. The idea of fallow thus germinated. It has now become commonplace, something unthinkable twenty years ago. .
1:30 p.m., end of fishing time. TheAlter Ego returns towards Port-en-Bessin in slow motion. Doors do not open until 6 p.m. Meanwhile, the mate and the sailor sort through the pretty pile of shells accumulated on the deck. Very clean, they are stored flat in boxes of around forty kilos. Only a few crepiduli need to be removed from larger specimens.
But the quota of one and a half tonnes has been exceeded and part of the last drag has to be put back into the water. The day at the quay the next day will also be an opportunity to change the mesh size of some, thus anticipating the passage to 97 mm instead of 92 mm, mandatory from 1is January 2021. A measure that the Bretons have already adopted for several years.
Bet won and turnover guaranteed
Back in port, the excitement is in full swing. And we can easily understand the enthusiasm of sailors for this fishing which protects both men and equipment: short outings, minimized costs (in the 100 € of diesel, little worn dredges…), and guaranteed turnover.
Weighings, the Saint-Jacques ofAlter Ego join the auction where the price will be 3.13 € / kg the next day. Before growing over the weeks … The bet of early opening seems won, despite the closure of restaurants which represent nearly 10% of the market.
– .
