Ahead of the October season, the French agency Ifremer kicked off its annual evaluation of scallop stocks in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. Results of the two-week campaign will calibrate the quota for the upcoming season.
“The 2010 campaign will target the abundance of age classes already under exploitation and will allow us to understand stock productivity in the short term,” said Ifremer.
And in the medium term, scientists will evaluate the number of scallops born in 2009 in order to sketch the evolution of stocks.
Scallop stocks increased in the early 2000s, with a particularly productive year in 2005. Since then, stock levels have remained high, despite a rise in fishing pressure.
But, in 2009, France’s scallop industry had a tough year, marked by weak prices due to a saturated market and a downturn in demand that heavily impacted the new season.
Last year, in a bid to soak up unsold scallops, local producer organization OPBN in Basse-Normandie, a region on the northern coast of France, paid EUR 2.05 (USD 3.07) for un-purchased scallops.
In terms of production, French vessels in 2009 sold 13,955 metric tons of giant Atlantic scallops at auctions. The total value of scallop auction sales reached EUR 32 million, compared to EUR 62 million for monkfish, EUR 61 million for sole and EUR 38 million for nephrops.
Last year, FranceAgrimer data showed that the French spent EUR 79 million on scallops, buying 8,834 metric tons. According to market research firm Kantar Worldpanel, from January to July 2010 French households paid, on average, EUR 5.54 a kilogram for whole scallops, while shelled scallops achieved an value-added price of EUR 19.84 a kilogram.
Despite the saturated market, the quality Label Rouge mark is proving to be a market advantage. According to Arnauld Manner from the regional fishing organization Normandie Fraîcheur Mer, the Port-en-Bassin seafood auction house in Normandy will “always” sell scallops that bear the Label Rouge logo because it indicates that the product was handled properly, including caught and stored horizontally in the boat, harvested no longer than 36 hours prior to sale and bearing undamaged shells.
Manner added that 15 fishing boats in this area of Normandy currently benefit from the Label Rouge status.
