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Poitou-Charentes
Pibale
Pibale is the name Charente-Maritime gives to the civelle: the very young stage of the eel, fished sparingly and under quota.
Seafood from Poitou-Charentes.
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Poitou-Charentes
Pibale is the name Charente-Maritime gives to the civelle: the very young stage of the eel, fished sparingly and under quota.
Seafood from Poitou-Charentes.
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"Pibale" is a regional name for the fry of the eel, also known as civelle or glass eel. The dictionary suggests two possible origins for it: the Bayonne Gascon pivar, "to swim upstream", or pibole, the recorder, by analogy of shape. In Charente-Maritime, it is the civelle that is caught, and pibale is its everyday local name.
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The European eel has been classified as critically endangered since 2008, both in France and worldwide. A 2007 Council of the European Union regulation introduced measures for the recovery of the eel stock, from which France established a quota system: two ministerial orders set the quantity of civelles that can be caught at sea and in freshwater. For the 2020-2021 season, the overall catch quota was 57.5 tonnes, down 11.5% on the previous season.
According to a written question to the Government in November 2025, a quota of 60 tonnes had for eight years sustained an activity essential to the department's under-twelve-metre artisanal fleet. The quota proposed for the following season was down to just 26 tonnes, or 60% less, reducing the individual share for Charente-Maritime professionals to 19 kg compared with an average of 48 kg in previous years, for around 220 vessel operators concerned.
Appearance
fry of the European eel, which the dictionary also refers to as the "glass eel".
the civelle is caught within quotas set by ministerial orders, at sea and in freshwater.
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The Royan Atlantique tourist office cites civelles among the products to discover along the coast, cooked in butter, garlic and parsley.
No official quality mark protects the pibale. Its fishing is, however, strictly regulated: the European eel is classified as critically endangered, and France sets annual catch quotas for civelles.
No producer is listed for this product yet.