On the Opal Coast, in Pas-de-Calais, professional shore-based fishermen collect wild mussels on the rocks.

Europe 1 met one of these professionals, Myriam Pont, a local figure in the trade.

She runs workshops for the youngest to raise their awareness of the preservation of natural resources.

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Collect wild mussels on the rocks to then market them.

This is the job of Myriam Pont, a fisherman on the Opal Coast, in the Pas-de-Calais department.

And her rather little-known professional activity, Myriam Pont wants to talk about it at all costs.

To do this, it runs workshops on the North Sea coast.

Europe 1 went there to attend one of them.

For the professional, it is also a means of educating the youngest on the subject of the preservation of natural resources.

Young people very quickly put in the bath.

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"A very nice reproduction this year"

"Hold, young man, a spoon to collect the mussels", indicates Myriam Pont. The fisherwoman has a keen eye in tracking down mussels. "We see their reproduction because, here, there is this little one", she shows to her young audience. "The mussel will harden, ferment, and inside you will have a little black pinhead. It will thin out to look a bit like a fine and it will filter the water very slowly." "We have a very nice reproduction this year," she says.

Like any profession, shore fishing for mussels follows certain rules.

"There is a regulatory size (of mold to respect) to protect nature", she underlines.

"It's four centimeters."

Fishing continues, fueled by the anecdotes of Myriam Pont.

"When we were children, we went fishing for mussels. If we were wise, we had a small cone of fries with a small piece of Camembert!"

"A rock mussel is much stronger than a cultured mussel"

"We put the spoon under the mussel. We put the thumb on the mussel and lift with the spoon", tries to apply a young apprentice who sometimes struggles to release the mollusk.

"Sometimes it's complicated, sometimes it's hard," he concedes.

For Myriam Pont, this is proof that we are dealing with "a country mussel".

"It has strength. See, there I pulled the mussel but it's hooked up and won't come. A rock mussel is much stronger than a cultured mussel."

The harvest of mussels must respect certain quotas.

For an amateur, the maximum allowed is five kilos per day.

For a professional, you should not exceed more than 160 kilos per day.