Mediterranean sea and coastline stakeholders gathered in Montpellier

On this occasion, the focus was on the actions carried out in Occitanie. Particular attention was paid to the progress of the update to the Stratégie de façade Méditerranée, which is due to be adopted next autumn.

PLAN LITTORAL 21

Highly mobilised during the public debate "La mer en débat" organised from 20 November 2023 to 26 April 2024 under the aegis of the Commission Nationale du Débat Public (CNDP), and consulted twice in July and September 2024, the members of the Conseil maritime de façade actively contributed to the project to update the Stratégie de façade maritime. Following the public debate, the interministerial decision of 17 October defined the offshore wind development scenario to help achieve the target of 45 GW of offshore wind power planned by the French strategy for energy and climate, participate in achieving carbon neutrality and reinforce France's energy sovereignty. The ambitious and balanced goal for the Méditerranée is to reach a total capacity of 5.8 GW by 2050. This decision also validated the first planning for highly protected areas in the Méditerranée to achieve the goal of 5% of waters under French sovereignty and jurisdiction in high protection, in the coastal strip and offshore. The potential environmental impacts of the draft Stratégie de façade maritime will soon be studied by the Autorité environnementale of the Inspection générale de l'environnement et du développement durable (IGEDD), which will issue its opinion within three months of the referral by the State. Holding this CMF in Montpellier gave the Occitanie Region the opportunity to highlight the economic component of the Plan littoral 21, co-led with the State. This comes at a time when several sectors of the blue economy (shellfish farming, fishing, tourism, yachting, etc.) have recently formalised their development strategy.

JOINING THE MARITIME WORLD

The coordinating prefects of the coast took note of the digital fresco of the Hérault shores. This tool for promoting the heritage and activities of the Hérault coastline was co-produced by the Institut national des archives (INA) and the Conseil départemental de l'Hérault. It is accessible to all. Reflecting the dynamism of the coastal stakeholders serving the sea and the coastline, the vice-president of the specialized Commission "Emploi-Formation" presented the booklet "Paroles de femmes : les métiers portuaires sont aussi pour vous" (Women's Voices: Port Careers are for You Too)! Describing the career paths of 16 women in the French Méditerranée, this booklet produced by the Carif-Oref Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur will be widely distributed to invite new generations to join the maritime world. Finally, the opinion of the members of the Conseil maritime de façade was sought twice during the session. They thus approved the proposal to label as a highly protected area the maritime perimeter of five osprey nests within the Parc naturel marin du Cap corse et de l'Agriate. This new zone will therefore be forwarded by the maritime prefect to the ministry in charge of ecological transition for labelling. The coverage of the coastline in highly protected areas has been steadily increasing for a year. The members also approved the application for a single authorisation in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to extend the installation on the continental shelf of a scientific measurement buoy for the benefit of the company OCERGIE located in the west of the golfe du Lion. The next session of the Conseil maritime de façade will be held on 19 June 2025 in Marseille.`