Even today, the old sailors of Etel and of the communes bordering the ria like to talk about the splendid flotilla of the sailing tuna boats which led their port to the forefront of the albacore fishery between the two wars.
Photographers and publishers of postcards have preserved the images of this time when the nourishing sea stimulated the economy of the ports of Brittany and elsewhere. Etel remained a sardine port for a long time, but Lord Germon soon gave this town and all the neighbouring towns on the coast a considerable boost until the beginning of the Second World War.
In 1946, the year the maritime district was created, there were still 76 sailing tuna boats in Etel, and there were still 50 in 1952. The sailors of the River were certainly lovers and enthusiasts of this sailing fishery bequeathed by their ancestors. However, gradually, a flotilla of mixed trawlers and tuna boats, then pure motor trawlers, led the port of Etel towards new horizons.
En 1952, 80 chalutiers à moteur concrétisent cette nouvelle orientation. Le chalutage devient une nécessité. La rivière d'Etel a toujours été une pépinière d'excellents marins qui, malgré les souffrances et les aléas de leur rude métier, ont toujours su faire face aux nombreux défis qui, régulièrement, ont jalonné leur vie.
The heyday of the port of Etel was between 1958 and 1968.
This second room relates the life of the port and the sailors of the River. We try to give visitors an insight into this beautiful period, which was certainly the most dense and varied in the Etoile economy.