4 Modernisation
The effects of mechanisation on the industry
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As the boats grew bigger, the tonnages harvested rose, which made the work of drying the seaweed ashore all the heavier for the harvesters and their families.
To make this processing work easier, new preserving techniques were introduced in the factories. From 1978, after the oil spill caused by the wreck of the Amoco-Cadiz, the manufacturers agreed to buy all the seaweed “green”, that is to say fresh.
The trade became less gruelling but more solitary, as the number of seaweed harvesters fell with mechanisation. Today, only 35 seaweed harvesting licences are granted by the Regional Sea Fisheries Committee.
Most harvesters unload their seaweed at the port of Lanildut. Other boats are attached to the ports of Plouguerneau, Landéda or Roscoff. Around 70,000 tonnes of kelp are harvested each year.