Boats requested to leave the calanques d’En-Vau and Port-Pin

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The calanque d’En-Vau is one of the most famous and popular – AFP

  • It is no longer possible for boats to drop anchor or even stop in the famous creeks of En-Vau and Port-Pin.
  • This radical decision of the maritime prefecture was taken to protect the Posidonia meadows.
  • The mayor of Cassis and some boaters are contesting this decision which would deprive the premises of these premises, and a demonstration will be organized this Sunday.

Their turquoise waters make them perhaps the most famous and emblematic creeks of the national park of the same name at the gates of Marseille. In recent years, the success of the En-Vau and Port-Pin creeks, near Cassis, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, has not weakened, and boaters were numerous at the first rays of the sun. Thus, during the summer, park officers counted up to 40 ships in the cove of Port-Pin, and no less than 80 in En-Vau.

Overcrowding has become untenable, according to the authorities, to the point of making a radical decision to say the least. At the end of a press conference this Thursday, on a proposal from the Calanques National Park, the maritime prefect thus issued a decree which purely and simply prohibits the anchoring of boats in these creeks. Only navigation will now be authorized, under penalty of a one-year prison sentence, a fine of 150,000 euros accompanied by suspension or withdrawal of the license, and a navigation ban. for a period of three years.

Endangered Posidonia meadows

“Too many people anchored in these two emblematic creeks of the national park, estimates its president Didier Réault. The national park is a place of nature where we come to find tranquility, serenity, fullness, not boat parking. “

Above all, this anchorage has an impact on biodiversity, since it destroys the Posidonia meadows which almost exclusively line the bottoms of these two creeks. “We must prevent the chains from raking the bottom, when the boats let go of the anchor or when the wind turns”, alarms Vice-Admiral Laurent Isnard, maritime prefect of the Mediterranean.

“What will become of my bathing water?” “

And to detail: “We have counted 800 km ² of Posidonia meadows in the Mediterranean Sea, which lies between 0 and 40 m² in depth. According to our records, we lost between 10 and 30%. And for a Posidonia herbarium to progress by one meter, it takes 100 years. However, it is something that acts as a nursery, for the fish which reproduce there. It is also a swell absorber. This is also what means that we do not have crumbling cliffs. “

A decision that makes the LR mayor of Cassis jump, who did not fail to let the maritime prefect know this Thursday. “In Cassis, my bathing water is excellent,” boasts Danièle Milon, also a member of the board of directors of the Calanques National Park. What will become of my bathing water with this excess traffic this summer? The boats that were going to anchor in En-Vau and Port-Pin, where do you think they are going to go? At Corton and at the Arena! How am I going to manage? We should have put ecological buoys! “

“But what is it with us!” “

A demonstration by Cassidian yachtsmen is even scheduled in En-Vau this Sunday at 10 am to protest against this measure. “Why ban all year round, plague Xavier Esnault, one of them. We want to continue to protect, but it was enough to regulate by prohibiting access in the summer, during peak periods. Usually, at 6 p.m., it’s a drink in En-Vau on my sailboat, and I can tell you that there is no overcrowding at all. We find ourselves deprived of our freedoms, our heritage and our traditions. It may seem a little chauvinistic and selfish, but what is it with us! We live in Cassis and we can no longer go to our creeks! “

“The Calanque d’En-Vau is too narrow to put in buoys and be able to move around,” explains Didier Réault. We have made the choice to preserve the environment, to ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from it. “” The mayor of Cassis spoke for the mooring plan during the board of directors of the calanques national park, tackle Hervé Menchon, deputy mayor PS of Marseille in charge of the sea, and also a member of this board of ‘administration. In the context of departmental and regional elections, there is a sudden turnaround. Perhaps there is a fear on the part of his electorate. We will take stock of this measure after the summer. We will discuss this again with the mayor of Cassis, the elections will have passed, and she will perhaps be conciliatory again… ”





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