They do not fall within the standards of the PDO and must be rejected. The question now is where. For years, the “mussels under size” had been dumped in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel, whose banks of sand and mud served as a giant trash can. A common practice linked to the mechanization of the “picking” of mussels. Equipped with mechanical arms, the mussel farmers’ boats do not know the difference between the beautiful and the small mussel. Result: they tear off everything and take all the shells hanging from the stakes on board. Sorting is only done on land. All models of less than 4 centimeters, too small to be marketed, must be rejected. In the bay of Merveille, they represent 25 to 30% of the shellfish caught, that is to say more than 3,000 tons which come to rot each year in the foreshore, generating nauseating odors and the massive arrival of gulls. Anything but anecdotal.
Long tolerated, the practice was framed this summer by a decree from the prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine. A text adopted on July 21 that the administrative court of Rennes has just suspended, to the delight of the Association pays d’Émeraude mer environnement (APEME) and the Society for the Protection of Landscapes and Aesthetics of France (SPPEF) who had seized it. To rule, the court relied on the absence of an impact study, “which had to be carried out, the project being subject to environmental assessment”, specifies the administrative court. “These massive discharges cause odors of putrefaction undergone by the coastal populations of Laronnière (Cherrueix) in particular, encourage the proliferation of populations of gulls with their processions of nuisances, the degradation of the quality of marine waters and landscapes”, explains the EMPA in a press release.
Soon outlets for small mussels?
The question now arises of the future of these small molds. While the season is not yet over, the fishermen of the bay are wondering. The authoritative North Brittany Regional Shellfish Committee will have to find other solutions for the rejects of its members.
The solution could come from the company Mytilimer, which manages the La Cancalaise brand in particular. The company aims to build a factory capable of transforming these small molds and finding outlets for them. The flesh could be sold in flavor form for the food industry and the shells could be used for animal feed or construction. The problem ? The plant won’t be operational until 2023, at best. “Before mechanization, undersized mussels represented 5% of the quantities sold. Today, it’s over 30%! What we would like is for this rate to drop, for producers to reduce their waste at source, ”argues Marie Feuvrier, president of the APEME.