THEME 4:MARINE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES - FISHING AND FISH FARMING

Highly prized on Japanese and Chinese markets, the wild ormer or abalone (Haliotis tuberculata) has been commercially fished under strict regulations for the last ten years. It is now becoming increasingly rare along the coasts of Brittany and elsewhere. Over the past twenty years global production has dropped from 20 000 to under 12 000 tonnes, while demand has remained strong and prices high.

Ormer-farming can offer a bright economic future provided sufficient quantities of healthy young ormers, selected for their resistance to the numerous diseases which threaten this fragile species, can be produced in an environmentally friendly way. Such commercial developments are also contingent on optimising breeding techniques and on securing the future of shellfish farmers interested in such production by providing appropriate technical support.

In order to develop this new, high value-added activity and as part of the Ormeaux project, the France Haliotis Company in Plouguerneau, which is at the forefront of the fish farming industry in Europe, has joined forces with experts from leading laboratories working on aquatic habitats.

ORMEAUX PROJECT PARTNERS

Companies 

• France Haliotis 
• Les Coquillages du Phare
• C-weed aquaculture

Research centres

• IUEM-UBO – LEMAR and LEBHAM labs 
• Concarneau MNHN lab
• LUMAQ lab at UBO
• IFREMER lab at La Tremblade
• UBO, UMR CNRS 6521
• Training body – CEMPAMA

Contacts

jean.boucher@pole-mer-bretagne.com
rachel.sellin@pole-mer-bretagne.com