Climate change takes toll on French oysters
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Gulping down oysters has long been a favorite New Year鈥檚 Eve ritual for the French, but as winters get warmer and summers get drier many growers worry there will soon be fewer of the prized mollusks to go around.
鈥淭wenty years ago, we鈥檇 be shivering in the warehouse while preparing the holiday orders. Today it鈥檚 15 degrees,鈥 says Brittany oysterman Mathieu Le Moal, his sleeves rolled up in front of a tractor carrying dozens of bulging oyster sacks.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have seasons anymore 鈥 but oysters need all four,鈥 Le Moal adds. 鈥淭hey need the winter. It鈥檚 when they can rest, use less energy.鈥
Inside a wooden hanger redolent of salt and the sea, around a dozen of his workers are sorting, weighing and packing oysters into crates in the Brittany port of Cancale.
Le Moal and other farmers along this stretch of France鈥檚 Emerald Coast say the long drought which struck swathes of the country this summer has taken a heavy toll, leading to smaller harvests, and smaller shellfish than in previous years.
Without summer rains that wash crucial minerals into the oyster beds, 鈥渢here鈥檚 no plankton, the main food for oysters, so they don鈥檛 grow,鈥 explained fellow oysterman Bertrand Racinne, weaving his way between baskets and stacked crates.
鈥淚n the end, we have oysters but not enough of the big ones,鈥 said Racinne, who like most growers sells more than half his yearly production in December.
Cold weather normally encourages a needed rest for oysters to mature, said Yoann Thomas of France鈥檚 IRD research institute.
But this winter has so far been unusually warm and, paradoxically, too rainy.
Rains may bring minerals that favor plankton growth 鈥 but they also mean the mollusks spend too much energy eating.
This year鈥檚 harvest is likely to start the spring 鈥渇ragile and vulnerable,鈥 warned Racinne.
鈥淲e鈥檝e found that periods of extreme mortality (more than 25 percent of oysters) come several months after mild and rainy winters,鈥 Thomas said.
鈥淭en grams fewer for each one makes a difference in sales,鈥 said Philippe Le Gal, president of the CNC national shellfish producers鈥 association.
In 2017 the roughly 4,500 oyster growers in France sold 100,000 tons, at an average price of 5,000 euros (US$5,700) per ton.
鈥淥yster farmers will see volumes down by 20 to 30 percent this year,鈥 Le Gal said. 鈥淐limate warming is starting to have an impact.鈥
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