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Aquaeultural Engineering 1 (1982) 55-62

T H E O R I G I N S O F T H E F R E N C H O Y S T E R I N D U S T R Y

R . G . K I R K

Commission of the European Communities, Rue de la Loi, 120, 1049 Brussels, Belgium

ABSTRACTA n a c c o u n t o f t h e e x p l o i t a t io n o f n a tu r a l o y s t e r b e d s o n t h e F r e n c h l it to r a l is g i v e np r i o r t o a n d d u r i n g t h e e a r ly p e r i o d o f d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e o y s t e r i n d u s t ry . P a r ti eu l arre f e rence is ma de t o t he T r (gu i e r oy s t e r f i she ry a s a t yp i ca l e xamp le o f a na tura l she ll-f i sh r e source. The g ro wth o f t he i ndus t r ia l f i she ry i s de sc r ibed f ro m i ts earl ie s t o rig in su n t i l t h e e n d o f t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y a n d t h e r ea r in g e x p e r i m e n t s o f d e B o n a n d C o s t ea re s u m m a r i ze d . A f e w d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e o y s t e r in d u s t r y i n r e c e n t y e a r s ar etouc hed upon and var ious cur ren t p rob l em s a re b r i e f l y r ev i ewed .

INTRODUCTIONWhi le F ren ch oys t e r r e a r e r s and 'os t rdologues ' a re t hemse lves we l l awa re o f t he gene ra ldeve lopm en t s i n o s t r e i cu l t u r e i n t he la t t e r ha l f o f the 19 th cen tu ry , the s equence o feven t s wh ich t oo k p l ace l a rge ly und e r t he r e l a t ive ly b r i e f pe r iod o f t he Seco nd Em pi r ei s l i t tl e know n ou t s ide F rance . P r io r t o t he 1850s , t he exp lo i t a t i on o f na tu r a l oys t e rbeds was t he on ly oys t e r i ndus t ry i n F rance bu t w i th in t he space o f 30 yea r s , oys t e rcu l t u r e p ro pe r had r e l ega t ed the na tu r a l f i she ry t o s econd p l ace in s i gni f ic ance and t hef o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e m o d e r n F r e n c h o y s t e r i n d u s t r y h a d b e e n l ai d.

R e l a t i v e l y f e w c o n t e m p o r a r y a u t h o r s r e c o r d e d t h e p r o c e s s e s w h i c h s h a p e d t h eg row th o f oys t e r cu l tu r e du r ing t he pe r iod a nd o ne o f the p r inc ipa l s i nvo lved , V ic to rCos t e , d i ed i n 1874 ' . . . p ro fo un d ly d i s cou raged and hav ing v i r t ua l l y l o s t f a i t h i n h i sw o r k ' ( R o c h e , 1 8 9 8 ). H i s c o l l a b o r a t o r , d e B o n , w a s m o r e f o r t u n a t e a n d l iv e d t o s eethe f i na l succes s o f t he i r c om bined e f fo r t s t o s e t up a na t i ona l oy s t e r i ndus t ry . I t isl a rge ly t hanks t o Cos t e (1 861 ) t ha t w e have a de t a i l ed p i c tu r e o f t he i n i ti a l succes se so f t he Mar ine admin i s t r a t i on a t Sa in t -Br i euc and Arcachon , wh i l e Roch6 has f a i t h fu l l y

55Aquacultural Engineering 0144-8,609/82/0001-0055/$02.75 Applied Science Publishers Ltd,England, 1982Printed in Great Britain

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5 6 R . G . K I R Kr e c o r d e d b o t h t h e f a ls e s t a r ts a n d t h e s u b s e q u e n t a l m o s t e x p l o si v e g r o w t ho f t h e i n d u s t r y . T h e f o l l o w i n g p a p e r is l a r g el y b a s e d o n t h e w r i t i n g s o f th e s e t w oa u t h o r s .

E X P L O I T A T I O N O F N A T U R A L O Y S T E R B E D S

T h e n u m b e r o f p r o d u c t i v e o y s t e r b e d s i n E u r o p e i n t h e e a r ly 1 9 t h c e n t u r y w a s v er ym u c h g r e a t e r t h a n a t p r e s e n t , b u t e v e n s o , a s t e a d y d e c li n e h a d a l r e a d y b e e n u n d e rw a y f o r a t l e a s t 5 0 y e a r s . A l in e o f o y s t e r b e d s s t r e t c h i n g f r o m D e n m a r k t o F i n is t~ r ec o u l d s t i l l b e t r a c e d a t t h i s t i m e a n d t h e W a d d e n s e e B a n k s , w h i c h h a d b e e n c a r e f u l l ym a i n t a i n e d a n d c h a r t e d s in c e 1 6 5 2 , w e r e s t il l v e r y p r o l if i c in d e e d . O n t he A t l a n t i cc o a s t t h e g r e a t e s t p r o d u c t i o n w a s f r o m L a R o c h e l l e , O 1 6r on , M a r e n n e s a n d A r c a c h o na n d i n t h e M e d i t e r ra n e a n , f r o m t h e E t a n g d e T h a n . R o c h 6 ( 1 8 9 8 ) re c o r d s m o s t o f t h eF r e n c h b e d s a s be i ng i m p o v e r i s h e d b y m i d - c e n t u r y a n d t h o se o f th e C h a n n e l 'presquec o r n p l k tm e n t m i n d s ' .

R o c h 6 c i te s t h e o y s t e r f i s h e r y o f C a n c a le a s b e i n g t y p i c a l i n s h o w i n g w i l d f l uc -t u a t i o n s i n p r o d u c t i o n , a p a t t e r n w h i c h i s c l e a r ly s h o w n i n T a b l e 1 .

TABLE 1Num bers of oysters fished during 12 year periodsfrom 1799 to 1895 (from Roch6, 1898)Period No. o f oysters fished

1799-1811 13 520 0001811-18 23 65 500 0001823-1835 400 000 0001835-1847 674 000 0001847-18 59 395 000 0001859-1871 35 445 0001871-1883 117 306 0001883-1895 61 199 000

W h i le t h e a u t h o r i t i e s c o n c e r n e d a t t e m p t e d t o e x e rc i se a t l e as t a m e a s u r e o f c o n t r o lo n t h e l e v e l o f f i s h in g a c t i v i t y , d i f f i c u l t i e s i n p o l i c in g o y s t e r p r o d u c in g r e g io n s e n s u r e dt h a t a n y r e g u l a t io n s a p p l y i n g t o th e f i s h e ry w o u l d b e i m p l e m e n t e d i n a h a p h a z a r d a n di n e f f e c t u a l w a y , i f a t a ll. T h e g r o w t h o f r ai l c o n n e c t i o n s f r o m t h e m e t r o p o l i s t o t h ec o a s t h a d a d i sa s t r o u s e f f e c t i n s t i m u l a t i n g t h e o v e r - f is h i n g o f b ed s , w h i c h u n t i l t h e nh a d l a r g e ly s u p p l i e d o n ly t h e s u r r o u n d in g l o c a l i t y a n d t h e n e a r e s t l a rg e t o wn s . W h i l e i tis a l w a y s po s s ib l e t h a t t h e e f f e c t i v e i n t e r v e n t i o n o f t h e a u t h o r i t i e s c o n c e r n e d c o u l dh a v e s a v e d t h e s i t u a t i o n , t h i s wo u ld h a v e i n v o lv e d a c o n s id e r a b l e e x p e n s e t o t h e t a x -p a y e r a n d s u c h a p r o p o s a l w o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y h a v e m e t w i t h g r ea t o p p o s i ti o n .

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THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH OYS TER INDUSTRY 57The oyster fishery at Tr6guier in Bri ttany illustrates the generally confused ideas

concerning the management of oyster beds in the 18th and 19th centuries and of thepressures brought to bear on local bodies responsible for maintaining production.Following a period of over-exploitation in the 1750s, a decree was passed forbiddingthe dredging of oysters (outside the 40 days of Lent) and prohibiting the export ofoysters under any pretext whatsoever for a period of six years. Three years later, thedecree was repealed by the States of Saint-Brieuc so that local supplies could bemaintained.

Once again, the beds were over-fished and in 1764 fishing was prohibited for afurther six years. Following the expiry of the degree in 1770, fishing continued in allareas and at all times. The oysters were transported into the town of Tr6guier by boatand were then despatched to destinations outside the province and even to othercountries.By 1775, the beds were once more exhausted and a decree of 17 October renewedcertain of the prohibitions embodied in the legislation of 1755 and 1764. The removalof shells from places other than those specified by the Tr6guier authorities was nowbanned, as was the dredging or hand collection of oysters between 1 May and 1 Februaryof each year.

Little appears to have been done to control the fishery between 1775 and the dateof the next burst of legislative activity in 1808, when the local authorit ies once morereacted to the over-exploitation of stocks by banning dredging in certain localities.These measures appear to have been no more effective than the previous decrees, sinceby 1813 the beds had been fished to such an extent that oysters were being sold atsix francs per thousand - an incredibly high price at the time.

In 1841, the task of policing the fishery was transferred from the Tr6guier muni-cipality to the Minist6re de la Marine, in spite of vociferous protests from the localbody. For the first time, the fishermen's case was given consideration and the municipalauthorities were required to justify their actions. Probably coincidentally, the exportof oysters from Tr6guier grew considerably between 1842 and 1857 and the period1857-70 saw an enormous growth in the fishery from 40 boats and 120 men to 533boats and 1600 men. This was inevitably followed by a rapid decline and by 1895only 215 boats and 800 men remained in the fishery, in spite of prohibitions on dredg-ing in virtually one year out of every two.

Much the same rate of decline occurred throughout the entire French oyster fisherywith the sole exception of the Bassin d'Auray which received particular attention fromthe Minist6re de la Marine because of it's importance to the fishery as a whole. Thevalue of production from all natural sources dropped from 211 million francs in theperiod 1873-84 to about 9 million francs in 1885-95 (see Table 2).

It was clear to a number of biologists and administrators concerned that simplyleaving an oyster bed to re-establish itself was rarely, if ever, effective on its own. Anumber of beds which had been abandoned in the Arcachon Basin simply disappearedafter a time, while oyster grounds in the Bay of Bourgneuf which were practically

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58 R.G. KIRK

TABLE 2Number and value of oysters fished annually from naturalbeds in the period 1874-95 inclusiveYear No . o f oys ters Value ( francs)1874 51 637 481 1 857 2041875 97 226 592 2 379 7091876 160 267 396 2 592 7071877 104 354 081 1 502 9511878 169 397 046 1 854 5641879 157 579 968 1 553 1471880 144 552 625 1 309 7911881 374 985 770 2 061 7531882 155 761 399 2 318 7271883 157 666 246 2 266 5781884 119 277 795 l 744 9351885 126 579 817 1 674 8261886 151 242 737 1 186 7301887 155 646 278 1 317 9961888 86 665 189 914 8131889 129 837 752 538 6641890 116 812 035 607 6671891 73 559 697 511 8901892 135 377 230 578 5351893 179 840 950 810 6361894 121 993 000 646 6091895 24 467 192 424 573

sterile in the mid 1880s, were brought back to full production 10 years later by thetotal prohibition of fishing accompanied by the destruction of competitors andparasites (RocM's italics) paid for by the Minist&e de la Marine (RocM, 1898).

GROWTH OF OYSTER CULTURE IN FRANCE (F ig . 1)The modern oyster rearing industry dates from a period between 1852 and 1855,according to RocM. At this t ime, the Commissaire de la Marine at St Servan, de Bon,carried out the first controlled experiments in designing and setting up collectors foroyster spat in parcs set aside for this purpose. De Bon was able to demonstrate thatspat collected artificially in pares developed in 15-16 months to a size comparable tothat of three year old oysters on natural grounds. At the time, de Bon appears to havebeen completely unaware of the studies of the biologist Victor Coste in this connec-tion but the two men were to work together for many years after 1858 (Roch6, 1898).

While de Bon was moving towards the idea of setting up artificial parcs as a meansof developing a completely independent oyster industry, Coste still adhered to thenotion of re-constituting natural beds by using methods based on those traditionallyemployed in Italy (Coste, 1861).

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THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH OYSTER INDUSTRY 59

~3~.22

Fig. 1. Princip al si tes of oy ster cultu re in France : (1) Boulogne; (2) Caen; (3) Cherbourg; (4) St.Malo; (5) St. Brieuc, (6) Paimpol; (7) Morlaix; (8) Brest; (9) Camaret; (10)IAudierne; (11) LeGuilvinec; (12) C onca rneau ; (13) L orie nt; (14) A uray ; (15) V annes; (16) St. Nazaire; (17) Na ntes;(18) Noir rnout ier ; (19) I le d 'Ye u; (20) L es Sables-d 'Olonne; (21) l le de R6; (22) La Roch el le ;(23) L 'i le d 'O16ron. (24) Marennes; (25) B brdeau x; (26) Arcach on; (27) Bayonne; (28) Po rt-Vendres; (29) S~te; (30) T oulon; (31) Ajaccio . (Source: Comit6 Interprofession el de la Conch i-culture.)I n i t i a l ly t h e w o r k o f t h e t w o c o l l a b o r a t o r s w a s h i g h ly s u c c es s fu l . C o l l e c t o r s w e r e

s e t u p i n t h e B a y o f S a i n t- B r i e u c a n d w e r e r e t r i e v e d c o v e r e d i n o y s t e r s p a t . O y s t e r sw e r e t r a n s f e r r e d i n la rg e n u m b e r s f r o m E n g l a n d t o t h e E t a n g d e T h a u a n d t h e ra d e d eT o u l o n a n d m o d e l parcs i n t e n d e d f o r t ri a ls w i t h n e w t y p e s o f c o l le c t o r s w e re e s t a b -l i s h e d i n t h e A r c a c h o n B a s i n .

T h e c h r o n o l o g y o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f o y s t e r c u l t u r e t e c h n i q u e s i s f a r f r o m c le a r .T h e r e i s n o r e c o r d e d d a t e f o r tw o o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t d e v e l o p m e n t s i n o y s t e rc u l t u r e i n t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y - t h e f ir s t u s e o f t i l es a s c o l l e c t o r s f o r o y s t e r s p a t a n d t h ee m p l o y m e n t o f o n e o r m o r e c o a t s o f a w a s h o f s a n d a n d l im e t o t h e ti le t o f a c i l it a t eddtroquage ( r e m o v a l o f t h e s p a t f r o m t h e t i le ) .

T h e u s e o f t il e s p r e - d a t e s t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f C o s t e ' s d e s c r i p t i o n o f a p p a r a t u s u s e d i nt h e c o l l e c t i o n o f s p a t ( C o s t e , 1 8 6 1 ) b u t s in c e he m a k e s n o m e n t i o n o f c o a t i n g t h et il es , i t i s p r o b a b l e t h a t t h is d e v e l o p m e n t o c c u r r e d l a t e r o n i n t h e s a m e d e c a d e o r

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60 R . G . K I R K

e v e n i n t h e 1 8 7 0 s . A t l e a st t h e n a m e o f t h e i n v e n to r , M ic h e l e t , is s ti ll h o n o u r e d b yF r e n c h o y s t e r g r o w e rs .

B e f o r e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e l i m e w a s h m e t h o d , t h e ti le s h a d t o be b r o k e n u pd u r i n g dd t roquage . T h i s w a s e x p e n s i v e a n d c o a t i n g t h e t i l e s w a s t h e r e f o r e a m a j o ra d v a n c e i n F r e n c h o y s t e r c u l t u r e ( I v e r s e n , 1 9 7 6 ) .

I n o r d e r f o r t h e t ri e s t o o f f e r a s u i t a b l e s i te f o r t h e s e t t li n g a n d s u b s e q u e n t d e v e lo p -m e n t o f s p a t , i t i s e s s e n t ia l t h a t t h e y a r e ra i s e d a b o v e t h e s e a b e d . T h i s e n d m a y b ea c h i e v e d i n a n u m b e r o f i n g e n i o u s w a y s , t w o o f w h i c h a re i l lu s t r a te d i n F ig . 2 .

PFig. 2. Tw o types of roof collector: (a) Single ro of collector; (b) dou ble roo f collector. (AfterCoste, 1861.)

T h e n e x t s t e p f o l l o w i n g f r o m C o s t e ' s ' t o i t co l l e c t eur doub le ' ( s h o w n i n F i g . 2 ) w a st o i n c o r p o r a t e s e v er a l o f t h e s e u n i ts i n t o a w o o d e n o p e n - f r a m e b o x . T h i s s e rv e s b o t ht o s e p a r a te t h e t ri es f r o m t h e s u b s t r a t u m a n d t o m u l t i p l y t h e i r n u m b e r p e r u n i tv o l u m e b y s e v e ra l -f o ld . R o c h d ( 1 8 9 8 ) g iv es th e f o l l o w i n g d e s c r i p ti o n o f t h e ' r uche ' o rb e e h i ve c o l l e c t o r : ' I t is f o r m e d b y a f r a m e w o r k o f w o o d e n s la ts , e n c l o s i n g 1 0 0 - 2 0 0c o n v e x t ri es , c o n c a v e s id e d o w n , a r r a n g e d a l t e r n a t i v e l y i n l o n g i t u d i n a l a n d h o r i z o n t a lr o w s , g i v in g t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a h o n e y c o m b i n a b e e h iv e . ' L i t tl e c h a n g e i n t hi s b a s ic

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THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH OYSTER INDUSTRY 61des ign ha s occu r r ed s ince t he l a s t c en tu ry ; s imi l a r con t empora ry ruches a re found fo rexample a t Arcachon ( s ee F ig . 1 ) .

Af t e r t he i n i t i a l successe s o f C os t e and de Bon , a s e ri e s o f d i s as t e rs occu r r ed w h ichapp ea red a t t he t ime t o t h r ea t en t he su rv ival o f t he new -bo rn i ndus t ry . The a r t i fi c ia lbank s a t Sa in t -Br i euc we re d e s t roy ed by s to rm s , s t ocks o f oys t e r s p l an t ed i n t he radede Bre s t we re p lunde red by oys t e r fi she rmen , t he parcs on the l i e de R6 and t hel ie d ' O l~ ron and a t L a Ro che l l e dec l i ned r ap id ly a f t e r a f ew yea r s and t r ia l s i n t heM ed i t e r r anean f a i l ed com ple t e ly (Roch6 , 1898 ).

Neve r the l e s s , t he parcs se t up and o rgan i zed b y t he M in is t6r e de l a Mar ine p rosp e reda n d t h e a d m i n i s t ra t i o n c o n t i n u e d t o p r o t e c t e x i s ti n g o y s t e r b e d s f r o m d e s t r u c t io nwhe rev e r pos s ib l e . The p roces s w as a long one , how eve r , and nea r ly a t h i rd o f acen tu ry e l apsed be fo re succes s was a s su red . C os t e ' s d r eam o f a va s t oys t e r bed enc i rc -l ing t he F ren ch l i t t o r a l was neve r r ea li z ed , bu t t he oys t e r g rower s even tua l l y le a rned t oada p t t hem se lves t o t he new r ea r ing me th od s and i n 1874 t he en t i r e Ar cach on Bas in ,w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f a n u m b e r o f n a t u r a l b e d s , w a s p l a c e d a t th e d i s p o sa l o f p r i v a t eg rower s .

T h e r e v iv a l o f o y s t e r c u l tu r e w a s b y n o m e a n s c o n f i n e d t o A r c a c h o n : i m p r o v e m e n t sa l so occu r r ed i n a g r ea t e r o r l e s se r deg ree i n t he G u l f o f Morb ihan , S t -Miche l, l i e deN o i r m o u t i e r a n d t h e l ie d e t ~ ( V i n s o n , q u o t e d b y R o c h 6 , 1 8 9 8 ). P r o d u c t i o n i n c r e a se dto such a n ex t en t t ha t by t he 18 90s , a 55% ri se in ou tp u t b rou gh t i n a ne t ga in o f on ly21% and t he Arcachonna i s we re s eek ing means o f reducing produc t ion i n t he Bas in( R o c h e , 1 8 9 8 ) .

Fo r t he f i rs t t ime , t he i ndus t ry was su f fe r i ng f rom a cr is is o f ove r -p rodu c t ion wh ichw a s n o t t h e r e s u lt o f ch a n c e f l u c t u a t io n s i n th e g r o w t h o f n a t u r a l p o p u l a t i o n s b u t h a db e e n p r o m p t e d b y t h e v e r y su c c es s o f t h e n e w l y i n t r o d u c e d c u l tu r e m e t h o d s .

POSTSCRIPT

L o o k i n g b a c k o v e r t h e l a st 1 0 0 y e a r s , t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y g r o w t h o f t he i n d u s t r y o v e r ape r iod o f ba r e ly t h r ee decades i n t he l a t e 19 th ce n tu ry a f t e r such a l ong pe r iod o fd e c li n e s ti ll s e e m s h a r d l y c r e d i b le . T h e i m p e t u s f o r g r o w t h m a y h a v e b e e n p r o v i d e d b ythe dev e lop m en t o f r a ilways i n F ranc e , by t he de t e r m ina t i on and sk ill s o f Cos t e and deBon , by t he i n t e r e s t and s up por t o f N apo leo n I I I ' s Min is t~ re de l a Mar ine , o r m os tl i ke ly o f a ll , by a com bin a t i on o f a ll t he se f ac to r s .

T h e f e w t e c h n i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s w h i c h h a v e o c c u r r e d i n t h e l a s t c e n t u r y a p p e a rt r iv i a l i n co m par i so n w i th t he p rog re s s ma de i n the 1850s and 1860s . Roof ing t i le s a r es ti ll u sed a s co l l e c to r s , a l t hough the se a r e now be ing rep l aced i n t he A rcach on B as in byme sh bags o f oys t e r she ll s (Mi lne , 1972 ) s imi la r t o t hose em p loy ed by Cos t e i n h i s'ruches collecteurs' of t he 1850s . I n r ecen t yea r s , a p l a s t i c m esh m a te r i a l ha s beenem plo ye d a s a subs t i t u t e fo r t he t r ad i t i ona l t i le s (Mi lne , 1972 ) a l t houg h i t ' s u se i s s ti llf a r f r o m w i d e s p r e ad . I n c r e a s in g m e c h a n i z a t i o n h a s t a k e n s o m e o f t h e h a r d l a b o u r o u to f o y s t e r c u l t u r e , b u t t h e i n d u s t r y c o n t i n u e s t o r e l y h e a v i ly o n th e s u p p o r t o ftradi t ional ski l ls .

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62 R . G . K I R KThe m os t s t r ik ing de ve lop m en t s have been i n t he Med i t e r r anean and i n pa r t i cu l a r

i n t he E t ang de Tha u , whe re t he Pac i f ic oys t e r (Crassostrea gigas) i s reared in longo p e n - m e s h e d n y l o n t u b e s o r c e m e n t e d t o d r e s s ed b e a m s o f m a n g r o v e w o o d s u s p e n d e df r o m f i x e d 'tables' i n t h e l a g o o n. S p a t a re i m p o r t e d f r o m t h e F r e n c h A t l a n ti c c o a s t o rf rom Japan on she l l co l l e c to r s , p r ev ious ly d r i l l ed fo r e a se o f a t t a chmen t t o t he me ta lr o d s o n w h i c h t h e y a re t h r e a d e d p r i o r t o i m m e r s i o n . A f t e r 9 o r 1 0 m o n t h s , t h ejuven i l e oys t e r s a re d~troqu~es f r om the co l l e c to r s and e i t he r so ld t o g rower s on t heAt l an t i c coas t o r e l s e r ea r ed in situ as de sc r i bed above (Anon , 1976 ) .

Ove r -p roduc t i on o f oys t e r s con t i nues , j u s t a s i n t he 1890s , bu t t h i s t ime o f Crasso-strea gigas r a the r t han t he i nd igenous Ostrea edulis. Oys te r g rower s a r e r ep r e sen t ed a treg iona l l eve l by loca l syndicats a n d n a t i o n a l l y b y t h e Comitd in terprofess ione l de laConchicul ture . There a r e s t i l l ma rke t i ng d i f f i cu l t i e s , howeve r , and t he Arcachon Bas ini s su f fe r i ng f ro m the b igges t s e t -back in p rod uc t i o n i n m an y yea r s f o ll owing t he f a i l u r eo f the Pac i fi c oys t e r t o spawn in t he pe r i od 1977 t o 1979 (Ano n , 1980 ) .

The dec l i ne i n t he p roduc t i on o f C. gigas i n t he Arca chon Bas in m ore o r le ssc o i n c i d ed w i t h t h e o u t b r e a k o f a p r o t o z o a n i n f e c t io n o f f l a t o y s t e r s c a u s e d b y t heparas i te Martelia refringens (wh ich ha s a l so i n f l ic t ed l o s se s i n m any o the r oy s t e r r e a r -ing reg ions) . Th is d i sease no w app ears to be regress ing in some areas bu t rece nt lya n o t h e r ( a s y e t u n i d e n t i f i e d ) p r o t o z o a n p a r a s i te h a s b e e n o b s e r v e d i n s o u t h B r i t t a n y( A u d o u i n , 1 9 8 0 ) .

D e s p i te t h e m u l t i tu d e o f p r o b l e m s w h i ch b e s e t th e o y s t e r in d u s t r y , t o t a l p r o d u c -t i on i s r e l a t i ve ly s t ab l e and wh i l e p r i c e s have f a i l ed t o keep pace w i th cu r r ency i n f l a -t i on i n r ecen t yea r s , t hey have no t f l uc tu a t ed t o t he deg ree tha t w as 'no rm a l ' i n thel a t t e r h a l f o f t he 19 th cen tu ry . One answ er t o t he i lls o f t he oys t e r i ndus t ry , and pa r t i -cu l a r l y t ha t o f t he Arc acho n Bas in , m ay we l l li e i n d r a st i c changes i n cu l tu r e m e thod s ,bu t t h i s w iJ l no t , o f cou r se , have any d i r ec t e f f ec t on t he m arke t i ng o f oys t e r s . Them o s t o b v i o u s s o l u t i o n t o t h is p r o b l e m w o u l d b e t o b u il d u p e f f e ct iv e p r o d u c e r o r g a ni -za t i ons unde r t he app rop r i a t e EEC r egu l a t i ons (Anon , 1980 ) . Wha teve r t he f i na lou t com e , t he F ren ch oys t e r i ndu s t ry ha s show n it s e l f t o be capab l e o f dea l ing w i thbigger d i f f icu l t ies in the pas t and there i s l i t t l e doubt tha t i t wi l l surv ive the la tes tvicissi tudes.

R E F E R E N C E SA n o n . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . L e s H u f t r e s e t M o u l e s d e F r a n c e . C o m i t 6 i n t e r p r o f e s s i o n e l d e l a C o n c h i c u l t u r e ,13 r ue S a in t - La z a r e , P a r is .A n o n . ( 1 9 8 0 ) . L e s s o n s f r o m a n o y s t e r d i s a st e r ar ea . F i s h F a r m i n g I n t . , 7 (1) , 3.A u d o u i n , J . ( 1 9 8 0 ) . S h e l l f is h C o m m i t t e e ( F r a n c e ) IC E S CM 1 9 8 0 / K 1 , 1 8 p p . ( m i m e o g r a p h e d ) .C os t e , V . ( 1861 ) . V o y a g e m r l e li t t o r a l d e l a F r a n c e e t d e l ' I t a li e . I m pr im e r i e I m p6r i a l e , P a r i s ,xxi i i .I ve r se n , E . S . ( 197 6 ) . F a r m i n g t h e E d g e o f t h e S ea . F i s h i n g N e w s B o o k s L t d , F a r n h a m , S u r r e y ,E n g l a n d .M i lne , P . H . ( 1972 ) . F i s h a n d S h e l l f i s h F a r m i n g i n C o a s t a l W a t e r s . F i s h i n g N ew s B o o k s L t d , 1 10F l e e t S t r e e t , L o n d o n .R o c h e , G . ( 1 8 9 8 ) . L a C u l t u r e d e s M e r s . F61ix A lean , Pa r is .