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In the postcard that is the bay of Golfe-Juan (Alpes-Maritimes), the buoys forming an enclosure, offshore, are part of the decor.
These are aquaculture farms, present for 35 years and operated by the company Azur Fish and its subsidiary Aquafrais, located in Cannes.
They manage the exploitation of fish - sea bream and sea bass - resold by supermarkets and on markets.
Installed in the clear waters and shades of blue specific to the Mediterranean for a long time, the cohabitation with the fishermen was established.
To each his own business, to each his own fish, even if in the past, the philosophy of these productions was already experiencing a stir.
A project to expand one of the aquaculture farms in this bay has been raising a new current of protest, misunderstanding and even anger for several months.
“From a subject that is no longer too topical, they are putting it back at the heart of a controversy.
It spoils them!”
, underlines Philippe Tabarot, senator Les Républicains des Alpes-Maritimes, opposed to the project.
On the Côte d'Azur, Aquafrais has five aquaculture farms spread between Théoule-sur-Mer, the Lérins Islands (Cannes) and Cap d'Antibes.
With its project, the company wants to move to three parks and build a larger one off Vallauris and Golfe-Juan.
Aquafrais makes no secret of wanting to double production to meet orders.
Some could not be insured, justifies the Cannes company, customers then turning to exports.
Today, it produces nearly 600 tonnes of fish, Aquafrais is aiming for 1,200 tonnes tomorrow.
End of an investigation...
The public inquiry coordinated with the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture ended on Wednesday.
The decision will be up to the State, the area concerned belonging to it because it is located beyond 300 meters from the shore.
But since October, local elected officials and in the first place, Kévin Luciano, the LR mayor of Vallauris, have been strongly opposed to this “mega” aquaculture farm.
He intends to drown the project, supported in this idea by the senator Philippe Tabarot, the deputy Éric Pauget (LR), the president of the department, Charles-Ange Ginésy, or even Jérôme Viaud, the mayor of Grasse but also president of the association of mayors of the department.
Even if his palavers may appear only as sword strokes in water, since it depends on the state, the city councilor leads the dispute.
And associates without reluctance with the local Greens and the
"It's a cross-party topic
," he said.
He puts forward several arguments, vectors of concern for his city, to prove the absurdity of the project.
That of fish discards is the main source of concern.
And this would affect his town even if the facts take place 300 meters from his beach.
Who says more fish, says more discharges,
"which degrade the quality of the water in the bay and which will affect the quality of the maritime fauna and flora as well as the protected species",
he insists. , specifying that the configuration of the bay does not allow the distribution of discharges by the currents.
A negative impact on tourism is also feared.
“Our population doubles in the summer and people come mainly to swim and enjoy the beaches.
The quality of the bathing water will deteriorate with the expansion of this farm”
, worries Kévin Luciano, who also adds that he does not understand the condition of captivity and breeding of these fish.
Behind him, seven fishermen are also worried about the future of their small business.
A petition launched has collected nearly 1,800 signatures at this stage.
... Challenged by the mayor
Aquafrais strives to assert the good faith of its project.
Jérôme Hémar, the director, is sent to the boarding to explain that it is also a question of modernizing the installations, 35 years old, and that the exploitation will expand in depth and not in surface (24,750 m2) .
Kevin Luciano, too, clings to the bar.
The mayor of Vallauris is asking for a one-month extension of the public inquiry for the production of an “independent and impartial”
counter-study
by the state services.
Half-heartedly, he thinks that the one that has just been carried out would not have any value, Azur Fish providing some of the scientific elements.
“There are gaps in a lot of facts
, he thinks.
We are asking for clarification.”
The new farm will not see the light of day tomorrow.
Even if the public inquiry ended on Wednesday, the prefecture will take some time to issue a favorable opinion, or not, on this request for expansion.
“We are advocating decentralization and it is a forced passage of the State, without having consulted local elected officials”
, adds Senator Philippe Tabarot who, on February 14, again asked a question at the Luxembourg Palace on this subject. .
Like Mayor Kevin Luciano, he does not say he is firmly opposed to fish farming but to this project of
“excessive”
and
“pharaonic”
dimensions .
In troubled waters, this farm does not seem to have finished making waves on the Côte d'Azur.