Octopus:professional buying guide, season, minimum weight, Brittany and Mediterranean

01

Buying sheet

National rhythm of auction sales (FranceAgriMer, 2024); it varies from one port to another. Tonnage and shares calculated by the editorial team from the sales declared at French fish auctions in 2024 (FranceAgriMer, report published on 6 June 2025), "pieuvre" line.

02

Why is there so much Breton octopus?

On the French coasts of the English Channel and the Atlantic, octopus catches have multiplied since the mid-2010s, and the Breton population reached record abundance in 2021 (Ifremer). Auction sales followed: 729 tonnes in 2015, 1,450 tonnes in 2021, 2,899 tonnes in 2023. Concarneau has become the leading French fish auction for octopus; in 2024, it was ahead of Audierne and of the Mediterranean auctions of Le Grau-du-Roi and Agde. The causes of this boom are not established, and nobody knows how long it will last: in 2024, sales fell by 30%.

In Brittany, fishing has been regulated by the regional fisheries committee since July 2022: limited number of gears, licences in Finistère since 2023 and in Côtes d'Armor, specific conditions in Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. These rules are reviewed every year.

03

When to buy octopus?

In autumn. In 2024, French fish auctions sold about 375 tonnes of octopus in October, 270 in November and 245 in December, against 45 to 60 tonnes in July and August. The average price is at its highest in August and December. In the Mediterranean, sales are more even over the year.

04

Octopus or eledone: what you are buying

FranceAgriMer distinguishes "pieuvre" (Octopus vulgaris) and a line "divers pieuvres et poulpes" (miscellaneous octopuses): 404 tonnes in 2024, 90% sold at Le Grau-du-Roi, Agde and Port-la-Nouvelle, at €5.18/kg on average against €7.83/kg for "pieuvre". On price lists you will notably come across eledone, which is recognised by a single row of suckers on each arm, against two for the common octopus. Smaller, it does not have the same value. The scientific name on the label decides.

05

How to judge the freshness of an octopus?

Shiny, moist skin, without dull spots; firm suckers that still stick to the finger; elastic flesh; bright eye; a smell of the sea, never of ammonia. A fresh octopus keeps its tone when lifted.

06

What to replace octopus with?

07

What makes the price of octopus move?

Year 2024, all French fish auctions: average first-sale price at the auction hall (FranceAgriMer, sales declared at fish auctions, workbook published on 2 July 2026). The workbook groups "pieuvre" (Octopus vulgaris) with the other, undistinguished octopuses; the price of "pieuvre" alone comes from the report published in June 2025. Spread between auctions: among those handling at least 5% of volumes. The auction price is not the price paid to the fish merchant: processing, transport and margin are added to it.

For most of 2024, the average price stayed between €6.80 and €7.70/kg, including in October, the busiest month (434 t, all lines combined), sold at around €7.00/kg. It rose in July and August, when landings fell to 81 to 85 t, to about €8.10 and €8.20/kg; then in December, to more than €9/kg despite 260 t sold, at holiday time. In 2025 too, December was the most expensive month. The spread between auctions plays out mainly in the Mediterranean, between Port-la-Nouvelle and Sète: the share of other octopuses and the size change from one auction hall to another, and the workbook does not detail them; compare like species with like size.

• The season: low prices at the autumn peak, high in summer and over the holidays.
• The Breton stock: highly variable from one year to the next, it shifts the national supply.
• The size: large, regular octopuses, for good-sized tentacles, cost more.
• The species: octopus above eledone.
• The presentation: fresh, frozen or cooked; compare per kilo cooked and trimmed.