Choosing the right moment
Rock pooling happens around low tide; start about an hour before. The bigger the tidal coefficient, the further the sea goes out: the big tides around the March and September equinoxes uncover rocks you never see the rest of the year.
- Tide times change every day: check maree.shom.fr for the nearest harbour
- Times can vary by nearly two hours between the north and south of Finistère: make sure you use south-coast times
- Check the weather too: wind and swell bring the sea back in faster
What to bring
- A bucket, a net, and a small rake or butter knife for older children
- Closed shoes that can get wet: rocks are sharp and slippery
- A measuring gauge for your finds (available from town halls, tourist offices or fishing shops)
- Warm clothes: the wind blows hard on the foreshore
The rules
Recreational shore fishing is free and needs no permit, but it is regulated and checked, especially during big tides.
- Minimum sizes: each species has a size below which it must be put back immediately. The official leaflet is published every year by the Finistère prefecture (finistere.gouv.fr)
- Quantities are limited for several shellfish and crustaceans, and some species are off-limits at certain times of year
- Health closures: some areas are closed, temporarily or permanently. The map is on pecheapied-responsable.fr
- Selling your catch is forbidden: you fish for the family, nothing more
Good habits to teach the children
- Turn every stone back the way you found it: dozens of small creatures live underneath
- Fill in the holes you dig in the sand
- Put back crabs carrying eggs
- Look, then let go: a green crab in a bucket of seawater is worth admiring for ten minutes before it goes back to its pool
- Only keep what you will eat that evening
Safety
- Go out on a falling tide, never a rising one
- Keep an eye on the time and on the sea: it comes back faster than you think
- Don't let children wander alone towards isolated rocks
- Tell someone at the house where you are going
The rules change every year. Before you go, check the current leaflet on the Finistère prefecture website and the health map on pecheapied-responsable.fr.