L'exploitation en Manche de deux mollusques marins : la coquille Saint-Jacques et le vanneau

Abstract

Since 1960, scallop-fishing (Pecten L. Maximus) has been centred on the Channel coast, especially on the protected coastal bed of St-Brieuc Bay which is France's leading area of production (8.000 tons a year) and on the coastal areas of Normandy : Seine Bay and central beds. This local industry commonly involtes boats of 5 to 20T in the Western part of the Channel and boats of 25 to 50T in the Eastern part. It has to make use of the dredge to catch the scallops of French beds. On the South Devon, the fishermen also use the otter trawl and beam trawl to catch lapwing (Chlamy opercularis ). The catch is commercialized by means of agrements between fishermen and wholesalers. More and more of it is being deep-frozen rather than tinned, but fresh scallops are still favoured by the consumers. British producers - South Devon producers in particular - export frozen scallops to France and the United-States. Now, in 1979, British and French fishermen are trying to organize the rational exploitation of their respective beds and studying the possibilities of re-stocking the fishing grounds by first catching spat by means of floating collectors.