BRITTANY: THE LAND OF THE SARDINE 



553 



are the most important. Brittany sup- 

 plies France with most of her lobsters 

 and langoustes. They are caught in 

 wicker traps, which differ from the lob- 

 ster pots used on our New England coast 

 in having a depressed conical shape with 

 the entrance in the top. The lobsters, 

 wrapped in wet seaweed and packed 

 in cheap wicker trays or baskets, are 

 shipped alive all over France. 



A short time ago there was an alarming 

 scarcity of lobsters and langoustes on the 

 Breton coast, which was attributable to 

 the octopus. This creature appeared in 

 immense numbers on the fishing grounds, 

 and not only reduced the abundance of 

 lobsters there, but entered the lobster 

 pots and ate the lobsters that had already 

 been caught. As showing the interrela- 

 tions of aquatic creatures, I might men- 

 tion that the most potent natural enemy 

 of the octopus is the conger eel, which 

 was formerly abundant, but has recently 

 been very scarce on the Breton coast, 

 owing probably to too active fishing. 

 We thus have the interesting fact that 

 the scarcity of lobsters was in reality due 

 to the scarcity of eels. 



THE HARDIEST OF WOMEN 



Shrimps are among the most popular 

 of the marine products, and an important 

 fishery is conducted for them, the little 

 creatures being taken in small barrel- 

 shaped traps. Shrimps abound in the 

 coastal waters, and are much sought by 

 women, who wade for them while push- 

 ing a triangular net along the grassy bot- 

 toms of bays and coves. These shrimp- 

 ers must be among the hardiest — perhaps 

 the foolhardiest — of their sex, for I have 

 seen them working hour after hour in 

 water that reached to their waists or 

 chests and was entirely too cold for 

 bathing. 



France ranks next to the United States 

 as an oyster-producing country, and an 

 important part of the oyster industry is 

 in Brittany. France many years ago 

 discovered a thing that some American 

 States are loath to acknowledge even to- 

 day, namely, that the oyster crop cannot 

 be harvested for an indefinite period 



from implanted grounds. The accept- 

 ance of this idea has meant $4,000,000 

 annually to the French oystermen, 

 whereas the pursuance of the policy that 

 up to a few years ago prevailed in the 

 great oyster regions of our Atlantic coast 

 would have absolutely obliterated the 

 oyster industry in our great sister re- 

 public. 



Every suitable bay and cove and es- 

 tuary on the coast of Brittany is utilized 

 for oyster culture, and in 1905 there were 

 over 4,000 oyster-growing establishments 

 in the province. The seed collecting, 

 transplanting, rearing, fattening, etc., 

 are not done in open waters, but in pares 

 or claires, which are more or less exposed 

 at low tide ; and most of the work con- 

 nected with this industry devolves on 

 women. The output of these oyster 

 pares in 1905 was 135,000,000 oysters 

 (for oysters in France are sold by num- 

 ber, not by bushels), valued at nearly 

 $600,000. Owing to a variety of causes, 

 among which are differences in habits, 

 the French oysters are not susceptible of 

 the same methods of culture as are ours, 

 but require peculiar treatment and atten- 

 tion, with the result that they are liter- 

 ally brought up by hand, sometimes being 

 actually handled individually as many as 

 twenty times before the crop is finally 

 gathered for market. 



6,000 MEN ENGAGE IN THE COD FISHERY 



The high-sea fisheries are very impor- 

 tant, and are encouraged by the French 

 government through the payment of lib- 

 eral bounties. On the northern coast of 

 Brittany some 200 vessels, carrying 

 nearly 6,000 men, engage in the cod fish- 

 ery on Dogger Bank, about Iceland, and 

 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. 

 Most of the vessels sail from the port of 

 Paimpol, which you will recall as the 

 home of Loti's * "Iceland Fisherman." 

 The hero was a real person, who never 

 fo rgave L,oti for having drowned him in 

 the novel and who was eventually lost, 

 on a return voyage from Iceland, when 

 nearly within the harbor of Paimpol. 

 The annual departure of the cod fisher- 

 men in early spring for the far-distant, 



