Most yacht captains were unaware of this new regulation.
For the first time this summer, France banned the anchoring of large yachts in certain areas of its Mediterranean coast in order to protect the precious forests of Posidonia, but 475 infringements were noted, according to official figures obtained this Friday.
"From July 6 to September 1, 475 breaches of the regulations on moorings were noted", most of them on the Côte d'Azur, between Cap Ferrat and Cap Dramont (Editor's note: between Nice and Fréjus), indicated the maritime prefecture, France's guarantor authority for the sustainable management of the seas.
These new rules prohibit yachts over 24 m from anchoring in several fragile areas off the Côte d'Azur and Corsica.
In the Mediterranean Sea, a hotspot for international yachting, the anchoring of boats is indeed one of the main causes of destruction of Posidonia, plants which only grow back very slowly.
Up to 150,000 euros in fines and one year in prison
“The fact that a ship drops its anchor, which will then strike the bottom where the Posidonia are found, has a devastating effect,” recalled the spokesperson for the Mediterranean maritime prefecture, Captain Thibault Lavernhe, in early September.
If many boaters have despite everything cast their anchor out of "ignorance" of the new rules, 42 of them have reoffended after being informed of the violation by the French maritime authorities, which resulted in around thirty verbalizations.
"A yacht flying the British flag was notably caught 10 times in violation and was fined by the French maritime gendarmerie", indicated the prefecture, specifying that proceedings were initiated against the captain of the boat.
The maximum penalty for these illegal anchorages is a fine of 150,000 euros and one year of imprisonment.
Taking its name from the Greek god of the sea Poseidon, posidonia is a Mediterranean herb that serves as a nursery for fish, contributes to the fight against global warming by storing carbon, like tropical forests, and helps limit the coast erosion.
Scientists have recently discovered that this plant was able to clean plastic from the sea.
The protection of this underwater “treasure” was one of the themes of the World Congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which is being held in Marseille until Saturday. In Spain, the Balearic Islands have taken mooring bans to protect Posidonia since 2018.
