Ocher rocks plunge into the turquoise Mediterranean water under an immaculate blue winter sky: Cap Roux, in Saint-Raphaël (Var), a tip of the Esterel massif, remains wild despite its proximity to the bay of Canes.
More than 80 marine species evolve here, attracted by Posidonia seagrass — a sort of underwater forest –, rock and coralligenous plateaus, a “living rock” formed of algae and coral, which constitute places preferred for food and reproduction.
Since 2004, over 450 hectares, fishing in all its forms, professional or not, has been strictly prohibited, a radical decision taken at the request of the fishermen themselves to “preserve the resource”.
“Fishermen were worried about the future and said we are going to freeze a place to serve as a nursery to repopulate around”, testifies Christian Decugis, first prud’homme of fishing of Saint-Raphaël, a few days before the COP15 of the United Nations on Biodiversity to be held in Montreal from December 7 to 19.
The prohibited area, at the heart of a site protected at European level by the Natura 2000 label, was chosen for its remoteness from the ports and, above all, because it is “a naturally rich place, because making a reserve in an already rotten place is useless at all,” insists Mr. Decugis.
“We have a lot more fish, bigger, species in abundance”, in the protected area but also around, he continues, which is confirmed by scientific and experimental studies.
The “reserve effect” is well verified for groupers and corbs for example, and particularly benefits scorpion fish and sea bream.
– Thinking about tomorrow –
In 2017, a study by the Association for Fishing and Maritime Activities showed that the income per fishing is “significantly higher in the area near the cantonment – part where fishing is prohibited – than in areas more distant”.
“In terms of image, a profession that takes charge of itself, which thinks about its future, is very promising for fishermen”, often criticized and pointed out, notes Mr. Decugis.
The only downside: the cantonment, “it’s an open-air safe”, which suffers from poaching, he laments.
Co-host of the Natura 2000 site for the Estérel Côte d’Azur conurbation, Julia Toscano takes part in sea trips to monitor the cantonment from May to September, and calls the municipal police or gendarmerie when she notices an infraction.
Through a project led by the French Office for Biodiversity, the fishing cantonment association hopes to soon obtain cameras “which would allow us to monitor this attendance and the people who come to fish or hunt, etc”.
In most cases, however, insists Ms. Toscano, illegal taking is due to the “ignorance” of amateurs “left to do recreational fishing but, being in a regulated area, it is similar to poaching”.
To fight against this ignorance, Julia Toscano relies above all on awareness, display, dialogue.
A large part of the actions of the cantonment – on which several structures overlap, including the town hall of Saint-Raphaël, the association of fishermen, or even the agglomeration -, relates moreover to the beaconing on land and at sea. .
Because tourist pressure has increased on the site since 2019, and in particular the frequentation of pleasure boats over 24 meters.
Schools of fish and colorful reefs also attract many divers, an activity that generates 500,000 euros in annual turnover for diving clubs, notes Fabien Rozec, head of the Marine Observatory for the agglomeration.
Thanks to European funds, the fishing area has been equipped with ecological buoys allowing diving clubs to no longer drop anchor. The objective, always: to preserve biodiversity while preserving the economic windfall.
“Over the years,” says Mr. Rozec, boaters have adopted more responsible behavior, for example, “by favoring anchoring in pockets of sand rather than in the Posidonia seagrass.”
The experience of Cap Roux, “it’s a bit like what France wants to do with its strong protection zones (ZPF) where precisely there will be really marine protected areas, not like today marine areas of paper without almost no restrictions”, concludes Mr. Decugis.
