In the family of farmers, difficult to find those who are smiling at the moment. But in the salt marshes of Guérande, in Loire-Atlantique, the drought experienced by the country in recent months has been the business of salt workers. Because to promote crystallization and produce the famous white gold, you need a maximum of sun and wind for good evaporation, but also as little rain as possible, in order to maintain a good level of salinity. “Unlike the previous season, all the ingredients are there to make salt,” says Charlotte Lefeuvre, who has been living in Guérande since 2011. The month of July is not over and we have already exceeded the harvest of an entire average year! As long as it’s not raining, with my seasonal workers, we collect. Records will fall if we continue like this! So I’m not complaining, even if there is a bit of fatigue. »
It must be said that for these 300 salt workers, the season starts earlier and earlier in recent years, again due to particular climatic conditions. From the beginning of May, after the cleaning, Christophe Annaheim and his colleagues were on deck with their las, these 5-meter long instruments that allow salt to be collected from the clay bottom of the rectangular basins, called carnations. “I have 57 and I’m already at 1.3 tonnes of coarse salt for each, or 80 tonnes taken out with my two little arms, calculates this salt worker, also president of the French Association of Atlantic Salt Producers. For 30 days, we’ve been on a 7 days a week, non-stop, which we can’t interrupt at the risk of creating a big crust. It is very physical work, without mechanization. And the hot weather doesn’t help. »
“What is happening is not normal, even very worrying”
To avoid excessively high temperatures, the salt workers go to their saltworks from 5:30 a.m., and do not leave them until mid-morning. After a big break, a second session is generally necessary at the end of the day, when the sun begins to decline and offers, in addition, splendid reflections on the pools. “But last Monday, we were at 45 degrees under shelter, and there is no shade…, continues Christophe Annaheim. Once again, we can only be satisfied to have salt, but an episode like this is not pleasant. I’ve never been so hot to go on the swamp! We see that what is happening is not normal, even very worrying. »
What these producers fear is in particular the storms that could multiply on our coasts due to climate change. “The dyke that protects our marshes has lived through Xynthia but it won’t support any more,” worries Christophe Annaheim. Not to mention the 50 centimeters of rising waters predicted by the IPCC. In the meantime, the weather forecast still does not announce any rain, or very light showers, for the next ten days. If some salt workers have already reached their fleur de sel quota (this thin film on the surface to be skimmed), set by the cooperative, the harvest of coarse salt could therefore continue at this frantic pace until September.