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Corsica
Eighteen months of sustained swimming in the currents of a Corsican gulf, for a fish with dense musculature and lean flesh — an industry born in the lagoons of the eastern coast, now seeking PGI status.
Seafood from Corsica.
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The first trials in farming sea bream in Corsica date back to the 1970s and 1980s, in the salt lagoons of the island's eastern coast. These closed waters, with little seawater exchange, nevertheless limited the growth and survival of the fish. In the late 1980s, once open-sea farming techniques had become reliable, Corsican fish farmers quickly relocated their marine farms to the gulfs along the island's western and southern coasts, where the fish grow faster and in better sanitary conditions than in lagoons.
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Farming is now concentrated in seventeen sea gulfs, from Girolata to Porto-Vecchio on the western and southern coasts, and up to Saint-Florent and Galéria in the north. These gulfs, sheltered from the swell, benefit from crystal-clear, highly oxygenated water: the convergence of oceanic currents entering through the Strait of Gibraltar, steep underwater topography that brings up deep waters, and strong winds blowing for more than 220 days a year ensure constant renewal of the rearing water. The sea temperature, between 12 and 24°C, remains within the thermal preferendum of the sea bream but is optimal for only three to four months a year — requiring a rearing period of at least eighteen months to reach marketable size, longer than in other Mediterranean farming basins.
The Syndicat des aquaculteurs corses « Mare e Stagni Corsi », based on the campus of the Università di Corsica in Corte, has for several years been pursuing an official recognition process for « Daurade de Corse / Dorade royale de Corse ». The INAO's national IGP-LR-STG committee approved the product specification at its meeting on 16 October 2025; the approval order, published in the Journal officiel of 25 February 2026, authorised its transmission to the European Commission for registration as a PGI. The application, registered under number PGI-FR-03512 in the European eAmbrosia register, is still under consideration: PGI status has not yet been granted.
Appearance
Fish of the species Sparus aurata, with a convex, elliptical body compressed along the flanks, and a high, massive head marked by a golden band between the eyes and across the cheeks — earning it the name « royale ». Silvery back and flanks, a black spot at the base of the lateral line, and an orange tint on the lower body.
Taste
Lean flesh, with a fat content of less than 9%, and an omega-3 / omega-6 fatty acid ratio greater than 1.
Texture
Substantial musculature and physical integrity close to wild fish, developed through sustained swimming in cages continually swept by a current.
(optional stage) — sorting of batches for greater uniformity before transfer to the sea.
only compliant batches of fry or juveniles, identified in the hatchery-nursery, are transferred to sea cages.
fasting period of at least 48 hours if the water is at 16°C or below, 36 hours above this.
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Daurade de Corse is marketed whole — gutted or ungutted — or filleted, fresh in boxes on ice or in trays under normal, modified or vacuum atmosphere. Whole, it can be recognised by the complete absence of wounds, parasites or malformations on the body, scales and gill covers; as fillets, by intact skin, free from wounds or parasites. Its lean flesh and firm texture, developed through eighteen months of swimming in cages, lend themselves to simple cooking methods — baked in the oven, en papillote, or grilled whole — that let the freshness of a fish packaged less than four hours after harvesting speak for itself.
No official quality mark obtained to date. The Syndicat des aquaculteurs corses « Mare e Stagni Corsi » is pursuing an application for a PGI (IGP) for the « Daurade de Corse / Dorade royale de Corse »: the product specification was approved by the INAO's national IGP-LR-STG committee at its meeting on 16 October 2025, then approved by ministerial order of 18 February 2026 (JORF of 25 February 2026), with a view to its transmission to the European Commission. The application is registered in the eAmbrosia register under number PGI-FR-03512, with the status « application » — PGI has not yet been granted at European level.
No producer is listed for this product yet.