Walkers of the sea
LA BELLE ILOISE
La belle iloise is a french conserverie since three generations and has been striving to provide all the best in the fish canning industry. In 2021, the conserverie is launching a new Brittany seaweed called "tartare d'algues", they are making with their partner Biocean, a small french company that harvest marine algae in Roscoff. They asked us to document their suppliers works and the manufacturing process of this Brittany seaweed. We spent two days with them in Roscoff, a small Brittany village, from their marine greenhouses to the infinite low tide beaches.
Michel is an algae harvester since more than 20 years. Almost everyday, he's taking care of the logistic of tonnes of Algae : Put them to dry, then scratch it and finally pack them. "It's a hard work, but I still love seagrass, the smell, the feeling, it's something alive, like the ocean".
“The landscape of Roscoff is marvelous. Wide estuaries follow the coast, a myriad of islands, islets, reefs create the illusion that we no longer know where the ground stops and where the ocean starts”
The water is only 10°, the sickle is salty, the swimsuit very thick is underwater till the bust. The harder thing for them is to find a good spot for the right algae. « I have the best open space of the world" said Jean-Yves, one of the seaweed harvester.
Julian is a tall and passionate man, the owner of "Biocean", a seagrass farm that provides tonnes of algae each year to different clients like @labelleiloise. Combu royale, Dulce, Wakamé...if you start to talk with him about algae, He will tell you their latin names and then their properties, their special tastes and smells. Sometimes he likes to leave his white jacket to the farm to go to Roscoff Ocean reef to choose with the team the next seaweed for his "Salade Oceane".
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore or seashore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide. These 2 environments at the same place (above and underwater) create a special ecosystem with unique species. The Roscoff foreshore is one of the richest of the world in terms of biodiversity, it can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and of course many species of algae.
Drying seaweed is a very delicate process, algae must stay in the greenhouses a specific time depending on the temperature and the humidity of the air.
“Nobody can really understand what my work is, even less put a name on it, I am not a farmer, not a fisherman, whatever, let’s tell I’m a sea treasure seeker”
« Walkers of the sea », a documentary about the new green gold of Atlantique Océan and the algae rush for La belle iloise
