Langoustines débarquées pour la vente à la criée du Guilvinec en août 2020. (Photo d’archives Le Télégramme/Nicolas CREACH)
In the Breton auctions, the tonnages landed fell by more than 35% in the 1st half of 2022 compared to 2021.
Nearly 836 tonnes over the first six months of 2021 and 538.30 t a few days before the end of the first half of 2022. Admittedly, the langoustine boats have raised the bar a little in recent weeks, but the fall in supplies has proved dizzying (nearly - 62%, at 13.34 cumulative tonnes) at Saint-Guénolé, much more moderate at Loctudy (- 29%, at 48.73 t) and closer to the average at Concarneau (- 33%, at 251 ,27 t) and Le Guilvinec (- 37%, at 225 t), according to a situation update on 21 June.
Average price up 16.40%
However, the increase in the average price of 16.40%, at this stage, makes it possible to limit the loss in value. These four Cornish auctions mentioned above totaled €6.74 million in revenue from the sale of langoustines, compared to nearly €9 million in 2021 at the same time. This price varied from €11.45 in Loctudy to €12.83 in Guilvinec, while it was between €9.25 in Loctudy and €11.10 in Guilvinec in the first half of 2021.
To read on the subject
Why have fewer langoustines landed in Lorient since the beginning of the year? What explanations? “If the fishermen had the answer, he would give it to us”, comments Morgane Ramonet, at the departmental committee for fisheries and marine farming in Finistère?. “The assessment made by Ifremer last year does not indicate a significant drop in the abundance of Norway lobster. A priori, the langoustine is there, it's just that it's not easily fishable,” she continues. “It's the weather conditions, the temperature variations that will make it come out, or not, of the burrow. This drop seems random to us, as it happens in some years,” continues Morgane Ramonet.
Norway lobster population up 15% in 2021
On the side of Ifremer, the scientists observed "a significant increase in the population of langoustines in the Bay of Biscay in 2021, of approximately + 15% compared to 2020", after "very low levels observed in the years 2018, 2019, 2020, the lowest over a 60-year history”. In 2022, the campaign, which results in video observation of the burrows as part of the Langolf-TV program , was to take place from April 15 to 29, with the prospect of a point between scientists and fishing professionals at autumn.
The fresh langoustine does not like the heat we have had lately, it devalues it for sale At the Guilvinec fish auction, its assistant manager David Derrien confirms a relative recovery this month "with a current price rather around €10, with no unsold stock at the moment although this sometimes happens in June, but we have had a few close lots the withdrawal price around €7-€8 per kilo”. “Fresh Norway lobster doesn't really like the heat we've had lately, it devalues it for sale,” he points out. The average price of €12.52 per kilo across the four Breton ports, since the beginning of the year, seems to him "consistent" given the quantity and quality of arrivals. In 2021, this average price reached €10.76.
Translated from Le Telegramme courtesy of Google.