Deeply concerned about a virus that continues to decimate their livelihoods, more than 350 French oyster producers took to the streets of Paris last week to clinch a meeting with the country’s fisheries minister.
On Wednesday, oyster producers from Normandy, Brittany, La Vendee and Charente poured hundreds of shells onto the Pont d’Alma in central Paris, and by the afternoon they were face to face with the minister, Bruno Le Maire.
Described by the Comité de survie de l’ostréiculture (CSO) — the committee for the survival of oyster production — as a “historic day,” the French producers claim to have progressed “quickly and positively in their negotiations with the state.”
At the heart of the problem is a virus that is killing juvenile oysters in all of the key oyster-producing areas in France. Such is the extent of the mortality that production in the country this year is expected to free fall by 40 percent. The decline is likely to continue over the next two years, largely because oysters require three years to reach maturity.
According to the country’s shellfish organization, Comite National de La Conchyliculture (CNC), the virus is threatening about one-quarter of France’s 4,200 shellfish firms, but the specific cause of the virus is still unknown. In a bid to shed light on the phenomenon, three scientific programs are underway to study oyster juveniles, all coordinated by France’s Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer, or Ifremer.
Airing its grievances to Le Maire, the CSO said its meeting on Wednesday “outlined ideas for solutions to help us emerge from this crisis rapidly.”
A real understanding of the problem by Ifremer, a lack of transparency, disputes, advice, protocols, research time and the loss of confidence by the profession were just a handful of the topics raised by disgruntled oyster producers.
The producers also succeeded in setting in ink a key meeting for June with leading decision-making politicians and all the relevant administrative bodies.
The CSO also received the green light to transform itself into the first big professional oyster union, the National Federation of Oyster Unions (FNSO), which will link up all of the country’s local, coastal unions into one voice.
Valued at EUR 630 million (USD 842 million), France produces about 130,000 metric tons of oysters a year, with French consumers representing 95 percent of the country’s production.
