Mussel farmers in western France have requested emergency state funding to help the economy get through a 90% devastation of mussels.
The farmers have blamed pollution from pesticides and sludge from the harbours for the critical drop in production which started six months ago. Scientists believe it is a combination of bad weather and bacteria.
Fearing the damage which the local economy will suffer, producers in the Atlantic port of La Rochelle have staged two protests in recent weeks, dumping piles of oyster shells and dead mussels outside the Préfecture to demand action.
They estimate their losses will mount up to some €20 million. They had been counting on the usual crop of 10,000 tonnes of mussels, equivalent to about a fifth of national production
The daily harvest is seven tonnes has dropped to about 100 grammes.
French restaurants have been sourcing imports from Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy.
Oyster production has also been hit. A mysterious disease is believed to have killed up to 80% of adult oysters in French coastal farms last year. Production has dropped by more than a third since 2008 when a virus rendered the oysters inedible.
Growers in Charrente-Maritime, the hardest hit area, are asking for government aid to survive the crisis. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Fisheries said €1.5 million would “soon be made available”.
