We embarked with Pierre Ribeyre, a passionate nature guide, on a visit to the National Conservatory of Wild Salmon in Chanteuges. The largest conservatory in Europe dedicated to this animal and ecological cause! The opportunity to grasp the issues of repopulation and conservation of this mysterious species, capable of crossing the rivers and oceans of the world to feed and reproduce. A visit from which we do not come out unscathed…
The National Wild Salmon Conservatory of Chanteuges
Do you know that a salmon is a 1000 power high level athlete? And that he is carrying out one of the most extreme and grueling migrations in the animal kingdom? But despite its astonishing powers, salmon is on the verge of extinction in many French rivers, even though it is an essential link in biodiversity, the food chain and more broadly, in the cycle of life...
It is in this critical context that the Chanteuges National Wild Salmon Conservatory was created in 2001, to preserve the species and make the general public aware of this ecological and environmental issue.
Visit the conservatory for ecological awareness
That's what Pierre Ribeyre evokes and recounts with fervor during the 1h30 visit to the National Conservatory of Wild Salmon in Chanteuges. A visit that we do not see pass: repopulation of the species, salmon conservation issues, mysteries and secrets of its migration, but also, of its evolution over time and according to the currents. Brief. We discover at his side, the essential role of the conservatory of Chanteuges and the thrilling life of the Atlantic salmon. After that, we will never see smoked salmon in the fish counter the same way again…
But far from being moralistic, his speech is mainly made of revelations on the current situation of salmon. Presented with humour, using a subtle composition of science and pedagogy of which only Pierre has the secret, the visit of the National Conservatory of Wild Salmon is conducive to a realization...
Distribution of wild salmon in France in 1800, 1995 and 2023:
Salmon from the Allier, this hero "with fins of clay"
For the record, the Allier salmon born in fresh water, then migrates to the ocean, in Greenland in the icy waters of the North Pole where it loves to splash around and feed on krill (small crustaceans from cold waters). And finally, he returns to the river, exactly where he was born, in the Haut-Allier spawning grounds, to reproduce in turn.
Un journey of several thousand kilometers which is not without danger. Climate change, pollution, hydraulic dams, predation, fishing… Few survive. In 20 years, the Atlantic salmon population has been halved according to the latest studies.
"Let's save the Allier salmon!" » : repopulation, conservation, awareness
It is the workhorse of Chanteuges National Wild Salmon Conservatory with its 3 missions: repopulation, conservation and awareness of the public to ecological issues related to salmon. “We can't let the salmon disappear! claims Pierre Ribeyre. It is the richness of our waterways, the environment and our territory. I don't want this heritage to be lost. I want it to stay and endure, in the hearts of children and their grandparents alike. »
We want to restore a place of honor to salmon in the collective consciousness
Because Pierre Ribeyre's visits are IN-TER-GE-NE-RA-TION-NELLES! As fun as they are interesting, they have real educational and training power for the general public. SO all year by reservation or during the summer months Tuesdays and Thursdays at 15 p.m., and as Saturdays at 10 a.m., if we let ourselves be told the story of the salmon, king of the Allier river, by this great nature enthusiast?
Contact information
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