Three different profiles of these new shellfish farmers who are setting up on the Thau lagoon. Midi Libre – W. N.
Focus on three different profiles: Anaë Varo who is taking over the family business, Charles-Louis Angé in the middle of a career change and the brothers Louis Gauthier and Lucas de Coninck who have expanded and diversified an existing business.
Le Mas du Joep, family history for three generations
Anaë Varo has taken over, with her brother Julien, the family business based in Bouzigues. Midi Libre – W. N.
As far back as she can remember, Anaë Varo has always been immersed in the world of fishing and shellfish. “When I was little, I was always on the footbridge swimming. I even fell into the sea urchins once”, recalls the 24-year-old young woman. Who took over, with her brother Julien, the Mas du Joep created by her grandfather and installed in Bouzigues, on the land where her great-grandfather once produced wine.
However, Anaë Varo did not initially intend to take over the family business. After studying aesthetics, she found herself at a time in her life “where I didn't really know what to do”. She then decided to buy a shellfish kiosk in Balaruc-les-Bains, La Fille du Joep. Then to join the family business when her father Jean-Paul decided to retire. “Either he sold everything, or we took it back. A part of me told me not to leave this place that has always been part of my life”, says Anaë Varo who does not hesitate to describe the family farmhouse as a true “haven of peace”.
“Perpetuating the tradition”
To become an oyster farmer, she is therefore taking the additional training in marine cultures at the Lycée de la Mer, and should soon do what is necessary to be able to pilot the boat. “I really want to be versatile”, says the woman who also has plans to launch a summer tasting on the farm by creating a terrace on the Thau lagoon.
Anaë Varo also intends to show that oyster farming can very well be combined with femininity and femininity. “There are lots of young women who are starting out now and there always have been. My mother would come to the farmhouse to swap, to stick…”, she illustrates. A family alongside which Bouzigaude will continue to evolve.“I also made this choice because it allows me, in addition to working in an exceptional setting, to be close to my family”, she says, before continuing: “It's a way of perpetuating tradition, of defending what the elders worked for and which is part of the heritage of Bouzigues”.
Charles-Louis Angé, from building to oyster
Charles-Louis Angé is currently working as an employee before taking over completely by the summer. Midi Libre – W. N.
A building contractor, Charles-Louis Angé was not completely ignorant of oyster farming when he wanted to start on the banks of the Thau lagoon last year. Originally from Normandy, “I knew about Atlantic oysters. For pre-fattening, it's quite similar but I wasn't used to farming on ropes. I discovered this work on the water and that's also what gave me the desire”. Just like the idea of selling your production directly.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Also read:“We can't leave anyone by the wayside”: how the Mediterranean regional committee supports shellfish farming installations
Hence his desire, as part of his reconversion, to find a company “ready to be exploited immediately with, potentially, a point of sale or a location on a market”. The thirty-year-old quickly found the rare pearl, through the CRCM which directed him to Bénédicte Ménard. The latter, whose retirement was approaching, then wanted to find a buyer for her family farm, based in Loupian, which her grandfather had already managed. “At first, it wasn't easy to imagine bringing someone into the family cocoon. But we quickly got on well with Charles-Louis”, says the shellfish farmer. “We had the same work philosophy”, adds the person concerned.
“For someone from the outside, that's a lot”
A good understanding that they are developing today on a daily basis by working together. Indeed, for the time being, and despite obtaining his professional capacity, Charles-Louis Angé remains an employee of the farm before the effective resumption, planned for the beginning of July, following the passage in the marine cultures commission. Enough to allow the new oyster farmer to understand all the facets of the profession.
“The production part is fine, even if you have to manage the rotation on the four tables, have oysters all year round. On the other hand, the most complex part is the files for the commission, the rules in the structure diagram, the traceability of the shellfish. For someone from the outside, it's a lot”, recognizes the one who considers himself lucky to already have experience in entrepreneurship. He continues: “It involves logistics and gymnastics that are captivating. It's a very beautiful job.” The next generation is assured.
Expand and diversify to create the Mas des frangins
Lucas, 29, and Louis, 24, manage twelve tables on the Thau lagoon. Midi Libre – W. N.
In June 2023, Louis Gautier and Lucas De Coninck acquired a 12-table shellfish farm following a retirement. “We wanted to take over something that was working and also be on the front line”, say the two brothers, based in Mourre blanc in Mèze. In addition to taking over the farmhouse of Jeanjean Père et fils, the young men aged 24 and 29 also bought, right next door, a premises “abandoned”, to open, after work, a tasting room in the summer of 2024. “We were happy to have people come to our workplace”, they say. An expansion and diversification of the company which now has, in addition to the two young people, four employees.
“Hyper well integrated”
However, at the beginning, the “brothers”, originally from Montpellier, were not from the inner circle. This did not prevent the youngest, Louis, from first joining the Lycée de la Mer and a shellfish farm in the Thau basin as an employee. “I quickly learned, in particular, that you had to make all sorts of oysters, respect the fining periods…”, says the man who now manages the production side. His eldest, a former rugby player, takes care of the commercial side.
A year and a half after the start of the adventure, Louis and Lucas do not regret their choice. “We were also really well integrated, the former owners had introduced us to a lot of people”, assure the Montpellier residents. Who also admit that they “didn't think too much” before getting started: “If we think about the blue crab or the consequences of global warming on the oyster, we don't do anything anymore”.
I subscribe to read the rest