French Oyster Farmers Race To Recover From Storm

Inspecting the damage caused by Storm Ciaran at his oyster farm on the Cotentin peninsula in northwestern France, Patrice Rodes sounds incredulous

Glatigny, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Nov, 2023) Inspecting the damage caused by Storm Ciaran at his oyster farm on the Cotentin peninsula in northwestern France, Patrice Rodes sounds incredulous.

"I've been here 12 years and never seen anything like this," says the farmer, perched on a tractor in the middle of an oyster bed on the west coast.

Rodes takes in the ravaged mesh bags and dislodged steel tables used to farm the molluscs, some of which are now strewn across the beach or buried in the sand.

Knee-deep in the water, seven employees are busy repairing the damage.

"Oysters that have spent more than eight days in the sand without breathing are finished: they live in the water," Rodes says.

Record-breaking winds that swept through western Europe in early November devastated many farms in France, which is both the main producer and consumer of oysters in Europe.

Some oyster parks off the coast of Normandy have been completely devastated, while others suffered partial damage.

With the Christmas holidays just around the corner, French farmers are now racing to clean up and save as many oysters as possible.

The Christmas harvest will not be affected, but the effects will be long-lasting, Rodes says.

"It won't change the volume we'll produce for Christmas, but for next year in January or February."

Heavy bags of oysters that had already grown large were more stable or already harvested, while more volatile bags of small oysters are gone, he says.

Tides have kept the farmers from the oyster beds for about two weeks.

Beds further offshore are still underwater and will not be accessible before January, Rodes says.

He takes stock of the losses as he moves further along the sandy beach, around 50 kilometres south of Cherbourg.

"I never thought I'd be hit this hard."

"I can already see three or four piles of tables, and a fifth here," he adds, pointing to a tangle of metal structures emerging from the water.