70% of wrecks and dead bodies remain to be brought to the surface. - Jérôme Diesnis / Maxele Presse Agency

  • The State has been hunting for two years for moorings (these weights sent to the bottom of the water to moor boats) and wrecks.
  • At first reluctant, the population accepted the idea of ​​using dry ports or of taking advantage of the extension of the ports made available to them. More expensive but more ecological practices.
  • The procedures are sometimes long and complex because it is necessary to find the identity of the owners of the wrecks before considering it as waste and bringing it to the surface.

In two years of fighting against wild anchorages, the exchanges between the population and the prefecture could be stormy. In many places in the Thau basin, illegal mooring of boats has been prohibited since 2008. But the decree has never been applied. It was therefore necessary to show pedagogy to finally convince of its usefulness of the users often refractory. Because today they most often have to put their hands in the pocket for formerly free practices.

In January, the consequences of hunting for wrecks and "moorings", these buoys connected to ballasts like old concrete tires or sometimes even truck batteries, are clearly visible. At Barrou, the wrecks have disappeared, as have the mooring boats, attached almost everywhere to these famous "moorings". Same thing in Balaruc-les-Bains or Mèze. "This is a major ecological problem," emphasizes Eliane Rosier, mayor of Bouzigues. We couldn't let it go on any longer. "

Dry port extension

In the very fragile ecosystem of the Thau basin, as the prohibitions on the consumption of shellfish regularly remind us, their presence is harmful. “The wrecks for the navigation of boaters and professionals with propellers or nets can find themselves stuck, explains Philippe Nuchau, sub-prefect in charge of the Thau basin. As for the "moorings", you cannot imagine what we are going up… "

The procedures are complex. They can take several years to find the owners of the wrecks. A legal obligation before considering them as waste and proceeding to their removal. In Balaruc, extraction is complicated due to the oil exploitation which has taken place for many years.

Solutions for boaters are more expensive. But more ecological: it involves the extension of the dry port of Sète or that of the port of Bouzigues (50 additional rings, an increase of 33% in supply) and the end of anarchy in Balaruc. But the work is still long: the percentage of wrecks and "dead bodies" at the bottom of the water remaining to rise to the surface is estimated at 70% ...

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