Les pollutions en mer de 2000 à 2019

• French authorities recorded 4,648 confirmed pollution reports (POLREP « POLlution REPort ») between 2000 and 2019. During 2000–2009, between 250 and 410 confirmed POLREPs were recorded annually, dropping below 200 from 2010 onwards. The trend reversed upward from 2016, reaching 172 confirmed POLREPs in 2019. • Since 2005, over 50% of confirmed POLREPs involve hydrocarbon pollution, with their share increasing steadily over time. Between 2000 and 2019, nearly 9 in 10 confirmed POLREPs concern metropolitan waters, with over 54% located in territorial waters (48% of all POLREPs considered).

Overseas territories, remote from major shipping lanes, account for 1.5% of confirmed POLREPs, with the remainder located outside French waters. In 2017, a spike was observed with nearly 11% of confirmed POLREPs in overseas areas.

Within metropolitan France, the Mediterranean accounts for a significant share of confirmed POLREPs (66% between 2000 and 2019), despite covering only 30% of metropolitan water surface. In 2006, the Mediterranean recorded its peak with 247 POLREPs. The North Atlantic–Western Channel maritime façade represents the second largest share at 22% of confirmed POLREPs since 2000, covering 38% of metropolitan water surface.

Since the early 2000s, approximately 7,100 pollution incidents have been reported in waters under French sovereignty and jurisdiction or nearby, generating pollution reports. Of these, 4,648 POLREPs were confirmed by French authorities, representing 66% (see POLREP categories in methodology).

• The number of confirmed POLREPs increased until 2006, the peak year with 407 confirmed POLREPs. From 2007, confirmed pollution counts declined, falling below 100 in 2014 and 2015, four times lower than 2006. This decrease is likely linked to strengthened criminal liability for marine pollution following the Erika and Prestige disasters in late 1999 and late 2002: • Law No. 2001-380 of May 3, 2001 on the repression of polluting ship discharges; • Law No. 2004-204 of March 9, 2004, known as Perben II; • Law No. 2008-757 of August 1, 2008 on environmental liability.

Annual counts rose again from 2016 onward, reaching 172 confirmed POLREPs in 2019.

• In 2019, over 68% of confirmed POLREPs involve hydrocarbon pollution (illegal discharges, mechanical failure, collision, or accidents at sea or in estuaries involving refineries or ships). This pollution type's share has increased since the 2000s, likely due to improved observer training in real-time detection of surface hydrocarbon pollution and parallel advances in technical detection capabilities (satellite/radar). In the early 2000s, hydrocarbon pollution represented 35–50% of confirmed POLREPs; since 2005, this share exceeds 50%, reaching 73% in 2016 and 2017. • In metropolitan waters throughout the study period, hydrocarbon pollution concentrates along major shipping lanes: the route along Corsica's eastern coast and the Channel–Atlantic corridor, with high densities around the Mediterranean ports of Marseille, Toulon, and Nice.

Pollution from unknown substances declined markedly during the study period. Between 2000 and 2005, they fluctuated between 110 and 210 POLREPs annually; since 2010, fewer than 20 POLREPs per year. This decline reflects improved identification techniques for other pollution types.

• Hazardous substance pollution represented 1.1% of confirmed POLREPs in 2019, up from 0.1% in 2000. Hazardous substance pollution is primarily located in the Mediterranean, where diverse pollution types occur, with lesser concentrations around the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, and Dunkerque. • Vegetable oil pollution was identified only from 2005 onward, occurring mainly in the Mediterranean and representing a small share of POLREPs (1.7% in 2019 and 2.4% on average between 2000 and 2019).

Pollution from household waste, vegetation debris, and containers was not identified in 2019. Over the entire study period, these represent just under 3% of confirmed POLREPs. Container pollution, whose contents are rarely known, is counted mainly in the Channel–Atlantic maritime corridor, while household waste and vegetation debris are generally found near coastlines.

The majority of pollution confirmed by French authorities from 2000 to 2019 concerns metropolitan waters, nearly 9 in 10 pollution incidents. Territorial waters account for 48% of all confirmed POLREPs.

Overseas areas represent only 1.5% of POLREPs. Pollution outside French waters accounts for less than 10%, primarily in Belgian, United Kingdom, Spanish, and Italian waters.

The Mediterranean accounts for a significant share of confirmed POLREPs, 66% between 2000 and 2019, despite covering only 30% of metropolitan water surface. In 2006, the Mediterranean recorded its peak with 247 POLREPs. Subsequently, POLREP counts in these waters fell sharply from 247 to 44 in 2017, then rose markedly to 80 in 2019. Except for 2000 and 2017, confirmed POLREP percentages in the Mediterranean consistently exceeded 50%.

The North Atlantic–Western Channel façade represents the second largest share at 22% of confirmed POLREPs since 2000, covering 38% of metropolitan water surface. Eastern Channel–North Sea and South Atlantic waters represent smaller shares. Eastern Channel–North Sea concentrates 8% of confirmed POLREPs for 8% of metropolitan water surface, while South Atlantic comprises only 4% of confirmed POLREPs despite covering 24% of metropolitan water surface.

• Analyzing metropolitan distribution across 4–5 year periods reveals two trends: • 2000–2009: confirmed pollution concentrates clearly along major shipping lanes—the route along Corsica's eastern coast and the Channel–Atlantic corridor—with high POLREP density around Mediterranean ports of Marseille, Toulon, and Nice. • 2010–2019: the previous pattern is less pronounced; confirmed POLREPs are fewer and cluster along metropolitan coastlines, particularly Brittany, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and Corsica. • North of the Gironde estuary, confirmed POLREPs were more numerous in the Charentais strait near La Rochelle and Royan ports, a trend evident only between 2005 and 2009.

• Analysis of cumulative POLREPs between 2000 and 2019 confirms that primary pollution zones align with major shipping lanes: • toward Genoa and the Strait of Messina along Corsica's eastern coast, where pollution is particularly concentrated; • between major Mediterranean ports including Marseille, Valencia, Barcelona, and Genoa; • along Channel and Atlantic shipping routes: between traffic separation schemes (TSS)—the Strait of Dover, Casquets and Ouessant TSS, Cape Finisterre TSS toward La Coruña in Spain—or between these transport corridors and major ports (Bay of Seine, Charentais strait, Gironde estuary, Basque coast).

Some zones correspond to areas of high ecological importance such as the Bonifacio Strait, Charentais strait, Iroise Sea, Seine estuary, or Provence coasts. In 2019, over half of confirmed metropolitan POLREPs (62%) were detected within protected marine area boundaries.

• Methodology • POLREP • Confirmed: pollution observation by authorized personnel; • Infirmed: pollution observation by third party, including satellite means, contradicted by authorized personnel's observation; • Probable: pollution observation by third party, including satellite means, whose analysis suggests pollution presence; • Doubtful: pollution observation by third party, including satellite means, whose analysis does not support pollution presence; • Unspecified: category for POLREPs with unrecorded classification.

• France's maritime spaces, totaling approximately 10.7 million km², represent the world's second-largest maritime area after the United States. Overseas areas generate 97% of this total. France is thus a coastal state bordering nearly all oceans. • Maritime spaces under sovereignty (internal waters, territorial sea) or jurisdiction (contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf) are governed by international law, particularly maritime law comprising all rules defining and regulating maritime space use. Maritime law rests on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed December 10, 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and ratified by France on April 11, 1996. This convention defines maritime space categories claimable by coastal states and establishes their rights and obligations over all maritime spaces.

Source: Cedre, 2021 Processing: Cerema Normandie - Centre Author: Cerema Normandie - Centre and Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES) Draft date: July 2021, updated

• Documentation, Research and Experimentation Centre on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE) • National Maritime Boundaries Portal

• Annual Marine Pollution Surveillance Report, 2019 • Analysis and Processing of POLREPs in French Surveillance Zone, 2019 • Eastern Channel–North Sea Façade Strategic Document (document, appendices, inter-prefectoral approval order, environmental statement under Article L. 122-9 of the Environmental Code) • North Atlantic Façade Strategic Document (document, appendices, inter-prefectoral approval order, environmental statement under Article L. 122-9 of the Environmental Code) • South Façade Strategic Document (document, appendices, inter-prefectoral approval order, statement following façade strategy consultations) • Mediterranean Façade Strategic Document (document, appendices, inter-prefectoral approval order, environmental statement under Article L. 122-9 of the Environmental Code) • Authors: Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES), Documentation, Research and Experimentation Centre on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE).