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Editorial Courrier du Pays de Retz
Published on
Oct 8, 2024 at 11:57 a.m.
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With each step on the sand, a crunch is heard. For several days, walkers have been wondering about these hundreds of thousands of knives littering the large beach of Tharon, in Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef (Loire-Atlantique).
Some experts noticed the appearance of a number of small holes 15 days ago, in front of the La Cormorane nautical center.
No doubt, it was indeed these long bivalve shells measuring around fifteen centimeters. But this is not enough to explain such a failure.
Several hypotheses
Patrick Baudet, a former shellfish farmer, puts forward several hypotheses.
Over the past 2/3 years, knife beds have formed between Cormier and Port Giraud. It may therefore be a cyclical stranding for knives which were reaching the end of their life.
“But there are so many of them that the plankton is not enough to feed them all, especially as with the warming of the waters, the ecosystem undergoes changes which is no longer suitable for knives. Added to this is the excess of fresh water due to recent precipitation which is always harmful to shellfish such as cockles.”
Shunned by fishermen?
Another hypothesis put forward by the former professional: usually much less frequent, these common molluscs are not not popular with fishermen on foot.
“The fishing technique is not well known. In addition, it is a shellfish that is difficult to clean and requires cooking, stuffing with parsley garlic, because it is a little bland,” continues Patrick Baudet.
No pollution
There is no risk of pollution since the internal part of the mollusc will remain in the water and will delight crustaceans and birds.
The shells, for their part, will be biodegraded. They will mix with the sand, forming a supply of limestone for the other molluscs.
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