Gabion hunting, essential to biodiversity in the Cotentin marshes

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Since the August 21, 2024the approximately 7,000 waterfowl hunters have returned to their second home, the numerous gabions present in the department. And this until January 31, 2025, the closing date of this ancestral hunt.

“We arrived Saturday evening. Just before 8 p.m., with my grandson, we shot two ducks, including a whistling duck,” comments Jean-Louis Lehot, well known within the Cotentin Marshes (Manche) and Bessin Regional Natural Park. “They landed right in front of us, in the pond,” adds Louis, the grandson in question, who did not hesitate to get up at 2:45 a.m. to stay up for the rest of the night.

Maintenance of ponds, vital to reproduction

The next morning, Sunday October 20, the three Lehot generations accompanied the other members of the Association des Sauvaginiers des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin (ASMCB), for a morning discovering gabion hunting in Auvers, near Carentan, open to the public.

A strong and constant wind, in no way slowed down by the flat and open expanses as far as the eye can see that the Marais du Rivage offers, and the drizzle put the two small groups in the atmosphere of fall conditions which “gabineurs” regularly face.

Passion for some, hatred for others. Hunting generally does not leave one indifferent.

That of waterfowl is considered by its practitioners as essential to the management of biodiversity. Whether it’s about the wildlifeby participating in the observation of the migration of bird species, but also of the floraby being actors, in conjunction with farmers, in the maintenance of difficult to access areas such as the Cotentin marshes.

“Without us, the ponds are not maintained. And they are vital for creating an area conducive to the reproduction of birds traveling between the Nordic countries and the Maghreb,” explains Michel, 71, who has roamed these wild lands of Cotentin since his childhood.

If gabioners can collect up to 25 birds in 24 hours according to a national decree dating from 1986, they are increasingly trying to participate in the scientific monitoring of migration. In the Channel, around a hundred have identified the wings of their samples.

3,125 wings identified in one year

In partnership with the National Association of Waterfowl Hunters (ANCGE), “this action, which has existed for 9 years, makes it possible to determine sex and age. Thus, on average, 70% of samples must be young birds to assess whether this method of hunting is becoming harmful for the population of the species,” reports Grégoire Fautrat, a 27-year-old member of the ASMCB and former technician at the Departmental Federation of Birds. Channel hunters.

Which is currently the case. Two years ago, 3,125 wings were identified. Hunting contributes to this knowledge, which observation alone does not provide.

We count 650 gabions in the Manche department, including 500 installations in the marshes.

Generally passed down from generation to generationthese sharing places are sometimes sold. Depending on the equipment, functionality and above all the location – more or less favorable to direct debits – “prices can vary from 10,000 to 200,000 euros”.

Association of Waterfowlers of the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes. Membership for one year: 20 euros. Such. : 06 50 56 42 43.

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