Harvesting drift seaweed

These are seaweeds of every kind which, torn loose by the sea after bad weather, wash up on the coast. Drift seaweed (goémon épave) is known in Breton by various names: bezhin-torr, bezhin-peñse, bezhin-avel, tali-Ebrel, but also sart d’épave south of the Loire, and varech in Normandy.

Arrivals are especially plentiful in March and April, the time when the old frond of Laminaria hyperborea, or tali-Ebrel, the April seaweed, breaks away.

Before it has washed ashore, the men rush into the water with their large rake, the rastell-aod, to gather as much of it as they can. Much prized by farmers for enriching the land, it is also highly sought after by seaweed harvesters. When burned, it produces soda. In the south of Finistère, it made up nearly all of the seaweed harvest throughout the season.