We had a WONDERFUL guide who herself has worked her way up the ladder and now part of her job is to give these great tours. Her name is Christine and she has taken a young woman under her wing who is working at the marketplace. It was Odette who took notes on this trip, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a copy of her notes before she left. Perhaps some day I will add some details with her help.
Left - Meeting place for the in front of the Shell Museum. Unfortunately, that was a place I wanted to visit but didn't have time to do.
To the right - entrance to the fish market.
Just inside the market they keep some live samples of the fish that comes through their doors.
Fish are sold by the lot. Actually, most of the sales are done at 3 or 4 in the morning but that's not a time that it's convenient for most "tourists" to take a tour. Special tours CAN be arranged for those hours, but I think it has taken Christine a long time to even get the later tours on the docket.
There was quite a large group of tourists but some of the people wondering around were workers at the fish market and some were also venders who wanted to bid on the remaining fish.
First on the agenda was to look at the fish that was left in the lots for sale. There were still fishmongers around looking to buy unsold lots and there was a lot of noise. I wasn't always able to hear the explanations about the different kinds of fish as well as the routine at the market. I'm hoping that Odette will fill in some of the holes as she was the one who took notes during this trip.
Below are some tiny squid. I was rather sad to see them in this state as I thought back to my snorkling trip to Belize 4 years ago with my friend Sigrid when I saw about 8 of them just hanging like tiny little white flags in the water. What a sight! Now, I am less eager to eat them.
This must be some sort of crab, but I didn't hear the conversation.
The "crier" (to cry out) (fishmarket) used to be less mechanized, but below you will see the electronic board that roles along to record the bids. It starts at a high price and the salesmen have to be on their toes if they want to bid on a lot. The information on the board not only has the price but the provence (which fishing boat) as well as the type of fish and how much in each lot.
I stepped toward one of the open doors at the dock to take some pictures of the fishing boats. As you will see, there are both large and small boats.
As I mentioned earlier, Christine is not only the tour guide but has worked about 25 years here at the port. She used to have a full time job working in the middle of the night to weigh in and measure the incoming fish. Now, the jobs are not as plentiful and many people only work part time. The schedule is posted the day before as the ships must let the port know how much tonnage is arriving.
The reason for some of the "leftovers" at 6:00 in the morning is that apparently ship captains are not in touch with each other as to how many of what kind of fish they are going to bring to market. Over the years there are some kinds of fish that are becoming scarcer (not news to those of us tuned in to what happens when overfishing of species is not well regulated). Then there are some fish that are are either not as popular or that are increasing, perhaps due to lack of predators. Help, Odette! Perhaps you have something to add here.
Below Christine explains how the workers don their white clothes and boots and use this tray to measure the legal length of each fish. They must reject any than are undersized. The women who work here get a feel for those fisherman who regularly do not respect the rules and must be reported to the officials.
The edge of the table shows the different sizes that are acceptable. Of course those working here have to know the limit on each kind of fish.
Below on the work sheets is information on total tonnage and the workforce needed to process each day. About 6 or 7 in the morning those who might have a job for the next day can check the schedule. Not an easy life for those who work here - not for the fisherman nor for those who receive the fish at the docks and do the triage.
I liked these little signed about the dress code and of course the necessary hygiene.
At the end of the tour, we were shown a movie on the different procedures as well as some footage of the life on the sea as it used to be. I asked if this film were available and Christine responded that she had had enough difficulty getting the officials to allow it to be shown during the tour. She hoped to work on making available to interested tourists in the future. I have to say it was one of the most informative "factory" tours I have ever taken.
The room in which we viewed the film was covered with scenes from the "olden" days. Her are a couple of those pictures.
After the tour was over, we decided to take another look at Ile Penotte. Of course Odette had been there as had I, but she had not had her camera with her, and mine ran out of "juice" while I was there.
The wall below was not quite finished.
An early morning but the tourism was not over. Odette had promised to take me to visit the Salines (salt mines) where she had "apprenticed" herself out for a couple of afternoons to find out how the salt was collected. Then on Tuesday late afternoon, David had a wine and cheese reception for a group of retired residents (hikers) of the Bretignoles area - a group to which his mother-in-law belongs.
See you at the next blog
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