CÉline and Sylvain Garcia parked their bikes at the end of the Grand Coin cul-de-sac, at the foot of the majestic Pointe aux Chevaux, with its pine trees overlooking the village beach. Petit-Piquey, in the middle of a Cap-Ferret peninsula where all the treasures are not only in the south, far from it. At 7pm and before setting on the ocean, the mid-August sun caresses the boats at low tide. “This is our second season here and we love it. » The couple of Breton merchants are also addicted to oysters and spend their evenings on the tasting terraces.
“I watched the worries of this winter from afar,” says Céline. A sequence of temperature…
CÉline and Sylvain Garcia parked their bikes at the end of the Grand Coin cul-de-sac at the foot of the majestic Pointe aux Chevaux with its pine trees overlooking the village beach. Petit-Piquey, in the middle of a Cap-Ferret peninsula where all the treasures are not only in the south, far from it. At 7pm and before setting on the ocean, the mid-August sun caresses the boats at low tide. “This is our second season here and we love it. » The couple of Breton merchants are also addicted to oysters and spend their evenings on the tasting terraces.
“I watched the worries of this winter from afar,” says Céline. A succession of storms that caused the sewage network to overflow into the waters of the Basin caused pollution and toxic infections through the oysters, which were banned from sale on December 27, 2023 for a month. “We took over with a sale at the Balma market in Toulouse,” recalls Jean Bouet, six-generation oyster farmer in Grand Coin. “I usually had 50 customers in a morning, I used to have ten. Add to this almost continuous bad weather this spring, the worst Easter weekend we have experienced, a 50% drop in turnover in April… We had to explain, convince, what is with everything logical. »
Jean Bouet, oyster farmer for six generations in Petit-Piquey.
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We had heard a lot of things, we don't know much about them and we just love to eat them! So I found out and I trust today,” says this family on vacation
For twenty-five years, on-site tasting of oyster farmers' production has been an essential source of income for them.
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“The only lever for reconquest”
Jean Bouet, discreet but hardworking from a historical point of view, can count on a loyal clientele of regulars, especially in summer on its tasting terrace. Twenty-five years ago, oyster farmers obtained this new form of regulated sale on products and schedules (domestic production, closing at 10 pm, among others), which became, over crises in the sector, an essential income for ' balance. Out of 300 professionals, about a hundred offer their seats overlooking the Basin. “Our only lever of recapture,” adds Jean Bouet, who already liked to talk about his profession, and there he further details the winter circumstances and reassures the quality of his oysters already known from the mouth.
Of the 300 oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin, about a hundred develop a tasting terrace.
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In “Taste of the Grand Coin”, he confesses to selling more shrimp and periwinks in a July with anemic attendance between a tense election, a decline in purchasing power, gloomy weather and the Olympics “I was hesitant to go, I admit” , confesses Cyrille Kali, from Bordeaux, a fan of Bassin and its star molluscs. We had heard a lot of things, we don't know much about them and we just love to eat them! So I found out and trust today. » The Kali family attacks the third dozen while looking at the bird island.
“Customers give us comfort”: Jean Bouet forecasts a drop in turnover of at least 25% this year. “You don't need two like that and this one, the state didn't really support us. »
“Oyster Cause Activists”
A few hundred meters further north, Hugues Conord likes his colleague (“Both, we're real”)… whom he met in kindergarten. But the oyster farmer in the village of Jacquets disagrees: “It's not up to the taxpayer to pay for this kind of event,” he argues. “Insurance must be able to cover this type of risk. But are colleagues aware of this? » 48-year-old professional included operating loss in contract and received compensation in March.
Hugues Conord, on the “Bout du monde” terrace, his tasting in the village of Jacquets.
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On a terrace in the village of Piraillan in August 2023.
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Its aptly named tasting terrace “The End of the World”it is also a delightful viewpoint on the shore. “We discovered this area four years ago during our first vacation here,” says Kamel Baoud, a teacher in Amiens. “I trust and we must help this struggling profession, subject to dangers it cannot control. We are activists for the cause of oysters, a particularly tough profession. » Hugues prefers to be on the water and in his parks, he doesn't hide it. His wife Christelle and his two children Lily and Tom (partners in the business) cater to a clientele like that of the peninsula: supportive, greedy and increasingly knowledgeable.
Detection and purification
This winter's health crisis in Bazin had the “merit” of triggering new dynamics. The regional crustacean committee of Arcachon Nouvelle-Aquitaine announces an increased surveillance network at seven sampling points during the crucial period November-April to measure the content of noroviruses and bacteriophages. The long purification route (21 days) is also actively explored. Some oyster farmers have already equipped themselves individually with more or less advanced techniques, but in Lège-Cap-Ferret, the professionals and the town are considering collective purification plans.