Le Figaro Bordeaux
On the crowded roundabout, annoyed shellfish and oyster farmers.
For ten days, bitumen has been the focus of all French demands.
And interchange 2 of the A660 motorway, in Mios in Gironde, is not exempt: a filter barrier forces motorists to exit to go around the roundabout.
“Arcachon oyster farmers, endangered species”
, they can read on the banners displayed.
Around eighty of them came together to make their voices heard and urgently get help.
“The poor sales with the end-of-year ban are weighing us down. We no longer have cash. And since the resumption, sales have fallen by more than 50%
,” explains Nicolas Mercier, one of the organizers of this inter-union gathering which brings together the profession from Gujan-Mestras to Teste-de-Buch, via Andernos- the baths.
The sector, for which the Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Shellfish Farming Committee estimates losses at
“5 million gross margin and 7 million euros in turnover”
, is requesting exemption from its taxes.
Oyster farming in the Arcachon basin is not folklore for tourists
Cédric Pain, mayor of Mios (PS)
Following a referendum vote bringing together 78% of the profession in the basin, the Arcachon institution is preparing to file a summary expert opinion with the administrative court of Bordeaux to obtain the opening of an investigation intended to “
establish the causes and the responsibilities of this norovirus pollution”,
which weighed down Christmas and New Year’s Eve sales.
Read alsoGironde: Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, this village which rests on astonishing cliffs of fossilized oysters
Loss of trustworthy
And if the danger of norovirus is over, the fight of oyster farmers to regain consumer confidence is far from over.
“People have lost confidence.
The combination of certain press articles and social networks created an outburst, while some people got really sick.
“It’s getting cold,”
notes Nicolas Mercier with annoyance.
If January sales have never been the best, this year's sales are particularly low.
“We must restore trust with consumers and therefore bring together elected officials. We have questions about water treatment: we don't want this to happen again. Big and small oyster farmers, we are all in the same boat
,” explains Denis des Touches, who farms oysters in Arcachon.
A message that some elected officials, like the mayor of Mios, Cédric Pain (PS), seem to have understood well.
“Oyster farming in the Arcachon basin is not folklore for tourists.
It’s an economy of 250 companies that employ people
,” says the councilor who has already visited the site three times this Monday.
According to the organizers, around 80 oyster farmers gathered at this roundabout in Mios on Monday.
Nicolas Mercier (personal collection)
Expected at the end of the day by the oyster farmers, the sub-prefect of Gironde was also dispatched to the site this morning.
Since the sales ban on December 27, the prefect of Gironde, Étienne Guyot, has been working to obtain state aid for the sector and a file to this effect has already been submitted to the competent ministerial department.
“Time is of the essence... But the more aids and band-aids, the more it reflects how sick our profession is.
What we want above all is to work and sell our oysters correctly
,” concludes Denis des Touches.