Just 150 kg in May. Three tons in June, five tons in July, eleven tons in August. And already six tonnes in a single week for September. At the municipal auction of Quiberon (Morbihan), the new star of the stalls is the octopus. Since the beginning of the summer, fishermen have not stopped seeing the quantities of octopus climbing in their nets or their traps. A phenomenon that we are struggling to explain at the moment but which worries some professionals of the sea. Over the summer, the sector has nevertheless organized itself in order to find outlets for this strange commodity. From Finistère to Vendée, fishermen are unanimous: “We’ve never seen that. “
Dominique Debec has been a fisherman for over thirty years. Based in the port of Croisic (Loire-Altantique), the man specializes in shellfish fishing. On board his traps, L’Atlantide, he usually hauls lobsters, cakes and spiders in his traps. For the past few months, he has not found any. “We only find octopus. Before, we put one up from time to time. But there is more than that. And nothing else, ”explains the fisherman. During his last outing at sea, he brought back more than 300. Unheard of.
Deprived of his main resource, Dominique Debec had no other choice but to adapt. “Octopus is selling pretty well so now we’re going to look for them, we’re targeting them.” In his dismay, he was able to count on a helping hand from fate. Among its three sailors, the Croisicais has a Portuguese. “He is used to working with it, it is very common among them”, explains his boss. His sailor would have confided that the octopuses, usually so numerous off Portugal and Spain where they are consumed a lot, would have disappeared. Could the species have migrated north this summer? In any case, it is very greedy and decimates the resource in crustaceans. “With us, it started in June. But it concerns everyone. In Lorient, La Turballe, Les Sables d’Olonne, it’s the same, ”explains Jean-Marc Lizé.
“We do not know why we have such a proliferation”
With this new windfall to deal with, the manager of the Quiberon auction saw the arrival of new buyers this summer. Fishmongers used to working with Italy, Spain and Portugal, where octopuses are very popular. “In Brittany, it sells rather badly”, he concedes. For now, the purchase price has remained at a correct level (5 to 6 euros per kilo at auction) despite the impressive quantities landed. But which remains four to six times lower than that of the noble lobster, for example. “We do not know why we have such a proliferation. Some scientists explain that the winter was mild. But this is not the first like that, ”continues Jean-Marc Lizé. He thinks that the climate factor and the warming of the oceans have something to do with it, but no scientist can be so categorical.
In auctions, the price of fish has risen sharply this summer and fishermen have clearly seen fewer bass, sea bream or red mullet returning to their nets. Does the octopus have something to do with it? No way to find out. But the invasion of tentacles worries the profession. “The season has not yet started but how are we going to do when we go get the scallops? Or the prawns? Octopuses eat everything, ”analyzes Dominique Debec. Before conceding, a bit disarmed. “If we have to continue making octopus, we will”.