Thai Union subsidiary MerAlliance is hiring between 80 to 100 seasonal workers at its Quimper processing plant in Brittany, northwest France, a company spokesperson said.

The smoker and processor is taking on workers to fillet, slice and pack fish.

Smoked salmon sales take off in France during the festive period of Christmas and New Year's accounting for a substantial part of processors' incomes.

Meantime, MerAlliance’s plan to build a land-based salmon farm in France have been abandoned.