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Sourcing from France

Sourcing fresh seafood from France:auctions, mareyeurs, air freight and documents for importers

How French fresh seafood sourcing works for importers: criées, mareyeurs, air freight via Paris CDG, export documents, seasons, comparing price lists.

Updated 10 min readLiveCriée editorial team

Contents
  1. Who sells French fish: criée, mareyeur, wholesaler
  2. How do you buy: through a mareyeur, step by step
  3. How long from auction to your cold room?
  4. Which documents follow a French seafood shipment?
  5. When is each species at its best? A seasonality summary
  6. How do you compare several mareyeurs' daily price lists?
  7. Frequently asked questions

Sourcing fresh seafood from France means buying fish and shellfish landed in French ports, usually sold first at a criée (a fish auction hall), then graded, packed and shipped by a mareyeur, the French wholesaler who buys at the auction and prepares the catch for professional buyers. For an importer in Hong Kong, Singapore or Dubai, the chain is short but tight: auction in the morning or the afternoon before, packing, a truck to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, and a flight, with timing that depends on the supplier, the carrier and the flight.

France has 34 fish auction halls and about 240 mareyage companies (2023 data, excluding mareyeurs who are mainly processors), most of them close to the ports where the boats land (FranceAgriMer). In 2024, Boulogne-sur-Mer on the Channel, then Le Guilvinec and Lorient in southern Brittany, were the three largest auction halls by value.

Who sells French fish: criée, mareyeur, wholesaler

PlayerFrench termWhat it doesCan an importer buy from it directly?
Fish auction hallcriée, halle à maréeSells the catch landed in the port, by auction (often electronic) or by private agreementRarely. Only buyers who have registered with the auction manager can bid, and they then have to organise collection, packing and shipping themselves
MareyeurmareyeurBuys at the auction as a registered buyer, grades by size (calibre), guts, fillets, packs and ships from an EU-approved plantYes. This is the usual route for export
Fish wholesalergrossiste en maréeBuys from several mareyeurs and imports, assembles mixed ordersYes, often for smaller or mixed volumes
Freight forwardertransitaireBooks air freight, prepares customs export documents, hands the boxes to the airline at CDGWorks for the importer or for the mareyeur, depending on the Incoterm

The mareyeur is the key link. Under EU law, buyers of fishery products from a fishing vessel must be registered, and first sales are recorded in sales notes (Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, article 59). The fish then goes through an approved establishment, whose oval identification mark ("FR" plus an approval number plus "CE") appears on every box. That approval number is what your own authorities will look for on the health certificate.

What matters is that the mareyeur works from an EU-approved establishment, has an EORI number for customs, and knows how to obtain the export health certificate your market requires. Ask whether the supplier already ships by air and handles the paperwork.

How do you buy: through a mareyeur, step by step

  1. Choose ports and species

    A Boulogne mareyeur offers squid, mackerel, whiting, saithe and red mullet; a mareyeur in southern Brittany offers langoustine, monkfish, megrim and line-caught fish. See the French pages on Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Guilvinec.

  2. Receive the daily price list

    Each mareyeur sends a mercuriale: the list of what landed, with presentation, size grade, origin and price per kilo, valid for the day and "subject to landing". It arrives by email, spreadsheet, PDF or WhatsApp, early in the morning French time.

  3. Order before the cut-off

    The cut-off for a given flight depends on the supplier and the forwarder: ask each mareyeur.

  4. Agree the Incoterm

    Export prices are often quoted ex works (at the mareyeur's plant) or FCA Paris CDG (handed to the carrier at the airport). The difference is the trucking to CDG and the forwarder's handling.

  5. Packing

    Fresh fish travels in polystyrene boxes with ice or gel packs, sealed for air transport. Ask for net weight of fish and gross weight of the box: you pay for the fish on net weight, and for the flight on gross or volumetric weight.

How long from auction to your cold room?

Typical timeline for a shipment bought at a French auction and flown from Paris CDG. Times are French time unless stated; every step depends on the day's flights and the forwarder.

StepBoulogne-sur-MerSouthern Brittany (Lorient, Concarneau, Le Guilvinec)
Auction6 am, Monday to Saturday; in winter, 5 am on Wednesdays, Fridays and SaturdaysAt Le Guilvinec, offshore sale at 5:30 am and inshore sale at 3:30 pm, Monday to Friday
Grading and packingAfter the sale, depending on the mareyeurAfter the sale, depending on the mareyeur
Truck towards Paris and CDGParis is about 270 km away by roadParis is about 500 km (Lorient) to 600 km (Le Guilvinec) away by road
Hand-over to forwarder at CDGBefore departure; the cut-off depends on the forwarder and the flightSame
Flight to DubaiAbout 7 hours nonstopSame
Flight to Hong KongAbout 12 hours nonstopSame
Flight to SingaporeAbout 13 hours nonstopSame
Arrival, clearance, deliveryDubai: usually delivered the next day, local date. Hong Kong and Singapore: usually the next day or the day after, local date. Always depending on the supplier, the carrier and the flightSame

Flight times are those published by the carriers for their nonstop flights and vary by carrier and season. Reading by the editorial team; to confirm with your forwarder.

In short: fish sold at a French auction is usually delivered to a Dubai cold room the next day, and to Hong Kong or Singapore the next day or the day after, local date, depending on the supplier, the carrier and the flight. The time difference works for Asian buyers: the French morning is their afternoon, so they see the day's price lists before their own business day ends.

Which documents follow a French seafood shipment?

DocumentIssued by (France)When it is needed
Export health certificateOfficial veterinary services of the département (DDPP or DDETSPP), on request through the Expadon 2 platformWhen the destination requires or expects it: a specific certificate for the UAE, strongly encouraged in Hong Kong, required in Singapore for high-risk items such as live oysters
Catch certificate (IUU regulation)National catch-certification unit (pôle national de certification des captures) in Boulogne-sur-MerOnly when the destination country requires it for catches by EU vessels (Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, article 15). Ask your importer or clearing agent whether your market does
Certificate of originChamber of commerceOn request of the importer or the destination customs
Customs export declarationExporter or forwarder (EORI number)Every shipment leaving the EU
Commercial invoice, packing list, air waybillMareyeur, forwarder, airlineEvery shipment

Since 3 June 2025, French export health certificates for fishery products to non-EU countries are requested only through Expadon 2, the Ministry of Agriculture's platform, except for destinations using an EU-harmonised certificate in TRACES NT, such as the United Kingdom (DGAL instruction 2025-330). All the certificate models of the sector are on the platform. The mareyeur or the forwarder files the request, and the département's official veterinary services sign the certificate.

Each market adds its own layer on arrival. Our pages for Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai detail the local authority, licence and documents.

When is each species at its best? A seasonality summary

Species (French name)Best months for supplyWhat to watch
Brittany blue lobster (homard bleu)May to July, still good in AugustRare from November to February; in 2024 the average auction price peaked in December, at about twice its June level
LangoustineApril to July, peak in MayScarce from October to February; in 2024 the average auction price doubled between spring and December
Turbot (wild)April to July, peak May and JuneIn 2024, December prices were more than twice those of May
Dover sole (sole)Winter to early spring, peak in March, and again in OctoberBay of Biscay winter closure for some vessels and gear: thirty consecutive days between 15 January and 27 February in 2027
Sea bass (bar, wild)November to March, peak in JanuaryIn 2026, EU rules closed commercial fishing in February and March in the Channel and the southern North Sea
John Dory (Saint-Pierre)April to AugustPresent all year, scarcest from January to March
King scallop (coquille Saint-Jacques)October to AprilFishing closed from 15 May to 30 September
Pacific oyster (huître creuse)September to AprilMilky in summer (spawning), except triploid oysters

National auction sales pattern (FranceAgriMer, 2024), not port by port; it varies from one port to another. Closures: EU and French rules. Full calendar (in French): calendrier de saison.

How do you compare several mareyeurs' daily price lists?

Most importers buy from several French suppliers, for security of supply and choice on key species. Each sends its own list, in its own words. To compare, every line must be brought to the same basis:

  1. Same species. French lists use commercial names (loup and bar are both sea bass; lotte and baudroie are both monkfish). Match each line to one species, ideally with its scientific name.
  2. Same presentation. Whole, gutted, headed, fillet: a fillet price and a whole-fish price only compare through the yield.
  3. Same size grade. "1/2 kg" at one mareyeur and "calibre 2" at another may not be the same fish. EU size categories exist for some species (Regulation (EC) No 2406/96); house grades are not standardised.
  4. Same price basis. Ex works, FCA CDG or delivered: add trucking, packing and handling where they are not included.
  5. Same landed cost. Air freight is charged on the chargeable weight, the higher of gross weight and volumetric weight (6,000 cm³ per kg under the standard IATA rule), and the gross weight includes ice and polystyrene. A useful per-kilo figure is:

landed cost per kg of fish = (price × net kg + packing + trucking to CDG + air freight on chargeable kg + export and import fees + local delivery) ÷ net kg

  1. Same moment, same history. A list sent at 6 am and one sent at 9 am may not reflect the same auction. A low price today means little without last week's and last season's prices for the same supplier.

With several mareyeurs, this takes time every morning, and the more suppliers you add, the more it becomes the first job of the purchasing team, in an afternoon that is already the end of the business day in Asia. Our French guide to the mercuriale shows the method line by line.

Frequently asked questions

What is a mareyeur?

A mareyeur is a French seafood wholesaler based near a fishing port who buys fish at the auction, grades it by size, prepares it (gutting, filleting, packing) and ships it to wholesalers, restaurants and importers. It is the first link after the boat.

Can a foreign importer buy directly at a French fish auction?

Bidding is reserved for buyers who have registered with each auction hall (French rural and maritime fishing code, article D932-9), who then have to organise collection, packing and shipping. Importers almost always buy through a mareyeur, who bids for them and ships the order; the timing depends on the supplier, the carrier and the flight.

How long does fresh fish take from France to Hong Kong, Singapore or Dubai?

From auction to the importer's cold room, fish is usually delivered the next day in Dubai, and the next day or the day after in Hong Kong or Singapore, local date, depending on the supplier, the carrier and the flight. According to the carriers' published flight times, the nonstop flight from Paris CDG takes about 7 hours to Dubai, 12 hours to Hong Kong and 13 hours to Singapore.

Which health certificate is needed to export French seafood?

An export health certificate signed by the French official veterinary services, requested through the Expadon 2 platform, when the destination requires or expects one. Each destination has its own model and wording; the mareyeur or forwarder files the request.

Is a catch certificate needed for exports outside the EU?

Only when the destination country asks for it for catches by EU vessels. In France, it is validated by the national catch-certification unit in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Check with your own authorities before the first shipment.

When are French scallops and oysters available?

King scallops from October to mid-May (fishing is closed from 15 May to 30 September). Pacific oysters all year, but best from September to April, as they become milky in summer, except triploid oysters.

Sources

Further reading