Sardines packed at sea.

Ludovic Le Roux, a fisherman in La Turballe, has just invested € 150,000 in a mobile packaging line. He can now pack his sardines directly onto his boat.


The sardines are boxed directly aboard the boat

"Today, too many of us to catch the sardines in La Turballe , finding new markets has become a necessity. To this end, Ludovic Le Roux , a fisherman at the head of the company Celejeanne , which specializes in blue fish since 2007, is counting on its new mobile packaging line. A first for the port of La Turballe.

"Thanks to this equipment, the sardines are packed on board in small crates and shipped as soon as we land," says the fisherman, who employs 14 people on his pair of pelagic trawlers Cintharth and Marilude .

He has just received support from the European Funds for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Feamp) of € 58,556 and € 19,518 from the Region to finance this innovative process which cost it € 156,149.

Doubled price

Out of the trawl, the fish passes in chilled water tank located at the rear of the boat for a first temperature descent. Then it is packaged in glossy polystyrene boxes of 4 kg. With ice flake, the fish continues to go down in temperature to reach 1 ° C in 20 minutes.

No handling, no risk of a temperature break, and late afternoon delivery of a sardine caught in the early morning are all arguments that have already convinced fishmongers and buyers of major brands. Three are already interested. A salesperson has been specially recruited to find other markets. Good news for the fisherman, who with this process doubles the selling price of the small blue fish. In the cannery, they are sold 0.83 € per kilo against 1.60 € for large retailers.

A longer season

With this new package the fisherman will also be able to start the sardine season earlier. And so fish more small pelagic fish. Supermarkets are demanding from the month of May while the cannery, it is necessary to wait for the month of July.

In the long run, he hopes to sell as much sardines to the mass market as to the cannery. The tests started in July and are rather promising. Four tons of sardines have already been packaged on board and the ship hopes to reach seven tons a day quickly.

Full story courtesy of Actu.fr