In line with its environmental commitment, the International Yacht Club of the port of Bormes-les-Mimosas initiated, at the end of 2016, an innovative project of artificial nurseries for juvenile fish in partnership with Suez Consulting. We previously presented this project in issue no. 12 of Dive in!After 6 months of intensive counts by divers from GIS Posidonie, accumulating over 38 hours of observations between March and October 2017, it is time to take a first assessment of these nurseries.
The conclusions are very positive and encouraging. The installation of ReFISH artificial nurseries, designed by Suez Consulting, has tripled the number of species and the total number of juveniles compared to the bare docks of the port of Bormes-les-Mimosas. For sars, this efficiency is even more pronounced. On several occasions, several small dusky groupers have even been observed as well as cuttlefish spawnings. Juveniles find on the ReFISH shelters and a food source that allow them to develop more easily. After a few months, they emancipate themselves and, more mobile, gradually join the adult population in deeper waters.
After this experimental phase, the project team will now engage in a reflection for a larger-scale deployment…
Fabrice Javel (project manager at SAFEGE, a Suez subsidiary)