Saint Quay Portrieux is a small harbor in the Bay of Saint Brieuc (Brittany), one hour away from here. According to the great chefs, it is here that you will find the best scallops in the world. They are caught in the wintertime by these small local boats, which are equipped by then with a special type of dredge. At the initiative of the local professional fishermen, this fishing is organized in a sustainable way in order to avoid ruining the scallop stock. Scallop fishing in the Bay of Saint Brieuc is only authorized to a limited number of licensed boats, on a limited number of days, in a defined period of two hours per day and in a specific area defined for each day. The start and the end of the two hours fishing period is announced across the bay by … a canon gun. The surveillance is enforced by boats, planes and helicopters. Any infraction regarding the limits of fishing time or the limits of fishing area is penalized by three years ashore, which means bankrupt for the faulty fisherman.
A large part of the scallops is already sold locally either to the restaurants, either to the local population. Every restaurant here features scallop dishes in its menu; even pizzerias have scallops pizzas and creperies have scallops galettes. As locals, we regularly eat scallops at home as a weekday family meal in the wintertime, as we can buy them fresh and alive at an affordable price. The part which is not bought locally is mainly shipped to the Paris area, where there is a strong demand in the restaurants around the Christmas and the New Year period.
In this picture, behind the scallop fishing boats, you can see the high masts of some giant sailboats. Saint Quay Portrieux is also used as an anchor place by some of the largest racing sailboats who participate to the big sailing races across the Atlantic or around the world.
