South of Lisbon, the revival of Portuguese oysters
Celia Rodrigues started working as an oyster farmer ten years ago after working on aquaculture projects.
© RFI - Marie-Line Darcy
Text by: Marie-Line Darcy
7 min
After a long period of neglect, the oyster has found its place on Portuguese tables.
An eventful Portuguese-French history.
Publicity
Read more
From our correspondent in Lisbon,
The fog covering the bay of Sado alternates with a fine drizzle that gives the landscape a Breton look.
30 kilometers south of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, very close to the city of Setúbal, some of the river's saltworks have been transformed into oyster beds.
The bivalve is produced there again after years of virtual disappearance.
►Also listen: Will Christmas oysters save the 2020 season despite the Covid?
“
The virus of the 1970s decimated practically all Portuguese production as well as French.
Before the epizootic, Setúbal produced 50 tonnes of oysters and employed
4,000 people.
The region exported mainly to France,
”explains Celia Rodrigues, who is the only female oyster farmer who owns her business.
She got into the business ten years ago after working on aquaculture projects.
Celia is the daughter of a fishmonger and a fisherman, but her parents didn't want her to follow the same path.
“
I only wanted the sea. So I went to study and finally became… a fishmonger,
” said the energetic 50-year-old woman.
At the rate of 16 hours a day, Celia, with a weathered face and disheveled black hair, devotes all her time to her parks.
A passion.
“I only wanted the sea. So I went to study and finally became… a fishmonger,” explains oyster farmer Celia Rodrigues;
© RFI-Marie-Line Darcy
Under the drizzle that sticks her hair, the oyster farmer who has put on waders handles the bags of oysters, comes and goes without stopping, and gives short and precise orders to her team.
It shows the tightly meshed pockets that are flush with the spat, the baby oysters of 6 or 8 millimeters.
In six months, after a significant number of handling of the bags, the oysters will grow in the salt pans at the bottom of the water.
Finally, the last step, the settling tanks, in order to make them “clear”.
The oyster, a historic back and forth between France and Portugal
"Having the Portuguese women in the sand" is an expression that one might think derogatory towards the Lusitanians.
However, it is not.
It means "to
be deaf to hearing
" because of the similarity between the shape of the ear pin and the oyster.
The formula was very popular in France.
She was born with the sinking of the Morlaisien at the end of the 19th century.
The ship was returning from Setúbal, the holds overloaded with oysters, bound for Arcachon.
But a violent storm prevented the ship from crossing the formidable passes of the bay of the city of Aquitaine.
Rerouted towards the Verdon at the mouth of the Gironde, the Morlaisien had to get rid of his cargo which had not supported the days of delay in the journey.
At the time, there was no question of acclimating Portuguese oysters.
However, some
Crassostrea angulata
, Portuguese cupped oysters, survived the shipwreck and they seeded the French Atlantic coasts.
Alongside
Crassostrea edulis
, the French flat.
The Portuguese women in the sand were therefore these shipwrecked oysters.
We will swear nothing, but in 1953, Albert Simonin immortalized the expression in his famous novel “
Touche pas au grisbi
”.
Portuguese exports continued until the new viral attack of the 1970s which decimated all or almost all French and Portuguese oysters.
It was then necessary to introduce the
Crassostrea gigas
, coming from the Pacific.
The revival of Portuguese production
Today, 204 oyster farmers have taken up the challenge of Portuguese oyster farming.
The parks are located at the mouths of the Mira rivers in the center, the Sado in the south of Lisbon and the Algarve in the far south.
The rest of the Portuguese coast is battered by violent ocean waves that make breeding impossible.
The Portuguese have long adopted the French method of placing mesh bags on tables one meter wide.
In 2018, Portugal produced 2,189 tonnes of oysters.
© RFI - Marie-Line Darcy
The spat come from France.
They measure between 2 and 6 millimeters.
The maturation time is halved compared to France.
“
This is the great advantage of our coasts.
The water temperature never drops below 14 or 15 degrees, compared to 8 in France on the Atlantic.
Our oysters always have phytoplankton for food.
Between the arrival of the spat and the size sufficient to be sold, it hardly takes more than a year,
”explains João Silva.
This oyster farmer and his two associates operate a ten-year maritime concession.
The 3 hectares produce 120 tonnes of oysters and João Silva hopes to double his production in the short term.
Their company initially invested 60,000 euros and continues to invest.
Joao Silva has not appealed for European aid but is considering it for the future.
“
There is a real boom in internal demand.
You can find oysters on all restaurant tables now.
We must increase production to meet this demand,
”explains the oyster farmer who exports almost all of his production to France.
In southern Portugal, oyster production is experiencing a real revival.
© RFI-Marie-Line Darcy
At high tide, the calm expanse of water of the Sado leaves nothing to guess at its treasure.
A stone's throw away, at the Gambia estate, in the Celia salt flats, the ambition is the same when it comes to a "local" product.
“
The water is brackish here.
This brings a balance to the oysters of the region, not too iodized, while keeping character
”.
It produces 25 tons and wants to increase its production for a bulk sale much more profitable than the baskets.
Portuguese women in the sand
Portugal produced 2,189 tonnes of oysters in 2018. This is twenty times more than 20 years ago.
Oyster farmers depend on bad weather and production losses average 30%.
And unlike their French counterparts, they are not covered by specific insurance in the event of production problems.
However, requests for assistance from the European MAR2020 fund are pouring in.
Oysters are on the rise.
And soon, two maternities will see the light of day.
For the first time in a long time, the Portuguese will then be 100% Portuguese.
► (Re) listen: Will Christmas oysters save the 2020 season despite the Covid?
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Portugal
Food
consumption
France
On the same subject
Africa on the move
Gambia: an oyster harvester activity on the mangrove in Banjul
Raw materials chronicle
Will Christmas oysters save the 2020 season despite the Covid?
European accents
Laboratory oysters for Christmas?