You love this seasonal product, and the good news is that this is its year!

Mathilde Bourge | 10/6/23, 2:09 PM

A much-loved seafood product has been back on our shelves since October 1ᵉʳ and should not be missed in the coming months. Can you guess which one it is?

While clams have been sorely lacking on Italian plates this summer, French consumers are in luck. A seasonal product, fished off our coasts, has recently returned to our shelves, and should not be missed for several months. A clue to its identity? This shellfish is one of the stars of the end-of-year festivities...

A record year!

This exceptional product, highly acclaimed by consumers, is none other than the scallop. According to the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), "scallop populations are doing well. All indicators of their good condition are in the green for the fishing season", which officially kicked off on Sunday 1ᵉʳ October, the institute said in a press release.

Ifremer particularly highlights the abundance in the bays of Saint-Brieuc and Seine, with a new record for the former area and the second highest level in fifty years for the latter. In the Bay of Saint-Brieuc, the total biomass, i.e. the quantity of shells having reached the regulatory minimum size of 102 mm, is 61.300 tonnes, i.e. 30% more than in 2022, a year already considered "exceptional" by Ifremer. In the Bay of Seine, the biomass immediately exploitable (110 mm or more) is estimated at 88,000 tonnes. Many shells, currently too small, will also reach the regulatory size in a few weeks or months, further inflating these figures. "Ifremer hopes thatthis will lead to record forecasts for 2024, provided that these juveniles, which are already large at the time of the campaign, are not fished before they have taken part in reproduction.

Measures respected

According to Ifremer, these record forecasts are no coincidence, and can be explained by "the management measures implemented by French fisheries", such as the "overall reduction in fishing effort, improved selectivity of fishing gears, and a reduction in the number of fish caught".improved gear selectivity with the use of larger dredge rings" and the "introduction ofa fallow zone in the Bay of Seine that changes every year". Good news for an iodized Christmas!

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