It will soon become more difficult to moor your yacht along the Mediterranean coast. An order will soon be made public to regulate this recreational practice, which will help protect the seabed’s flora and fauna.
In fifty years, the surface of Posidonia meadows, abundant marine aquatic plants in the Mediterranean, has decreased irreparably by 33.5%. In the last ten years, this decline has further accelerated. Who or what’s to blame? Anchors of the yachts measuring over 24 meters. When they are raised, their chains plow through the seabed and destroy the fields of seagrass, which serve as a natural habitat for all aquatic fauna and oxygenate the Mediterranean Sea. In light of this growing low, the Mediterranean maritime prefect has decided to issue an order to regulate the anchorage of these imposing pleasure boats.
Decrees with an ecological vocation
Every year, some 1,700 yachts from 24 to 45 meters anchor off the Mediterranean coast. There was, therefore, a certain level of urgency in the decree, especially as each anchorage can cause the destruction of around 1,000 m2 of Posidonia. Work will be conducted to establish acceptable or prohibited areas for yacht mooring, to reconcile leisure and ecology. The mobile application Donia already allows locating Posidonia meadows and invites boaters to avoid them. This sort of technology will also help yacht owners and operators not to be fined in the future for a sum of more than 15,000 euros.
*Article originally published on the French edition of the Monaco Tribune.