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While the United Nations treaty on the protection of the high seas, which entered into force on January 17, 2026, aims to better ensure the protection of international waters as well as access to their resources, La Croix L’Hebdo echoes four actions to improve the integrity of French coastlines.
Clean up the seabed
Along the coasts of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), waste accumulates at sea, between zero and six meters deep, where 70% of regional marine biodiversity lives. Faced with the lack of protection in this maritime area, the MerVeille association offers underwater waste collections, using masks and snorkels. A first in the Marseille city.
“You don’t need freediving skills,” emphasizes Sébastien Tortora, co-founder of MerVeille. We try to collect waste at the source, before it fragments in the sea.” The association also relies on a network of volunteers responsible for monitoring the coastline and reporting possible cases of pollution at sea, requiring rapid intervention.
Since 2019, 105 collection operations at sea – in parallel with land collections also organized – have brought together more than 1,600 volunteers and have collected nearly 22 tonnes of waste. Sébastien Tortora is aware of the almost impossible scale of the task: “It’s a long-term job, waste will always arrive. But every action counts: a small plastic bag removed from the water will not poison any animal. »
The waste collected is then sorted and characterized by the association: metal, plastic, nylon, fabric, etc. “We want to use this data to raise awareness about marine pollution,” continues Sébastien Tortora. Information integrated into a participatory science platform, Remed zero plastic, initiated by the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, which reminds us that “to reduce pollution, you have to know it”.
Improve scientific knowledge
Since 1997, the Cotentin Cetacean Study Group has been monitoring bottlenose dolphins in the English Channel. The association relies in particular on an online participatory science tool, Obsenmer, in which everyone can report, for example, the activity of animals or sources of nuisance. More than 11,000 citizen surveys have been carried out since its creation.
The data is then analyzed, interpreted and shared with scientists in order to obtain “better knowledge of the risks to populations, for example chemical contamination by pollutants”, indicates Maïlys Baudoint, responsible for participatory science. In the years to come, the association would like to update a study published in 2017, in which they demonstrated the presence of historical pollutants (such as mercury) at significant levels in Cotentin bottlenose dolphins.
Raise citizen awareness
In 2012, Surfrider Foundation opened a campus in Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) dedicated to the protection of the coastline and oceans. “We wanted to create a place for interaction, civic education and training,” explains Boris Masseron, founder of the NGO campus, which welcomes 4,000 people each year.
Open to the general public, schools and families, this space of approximately 1,000 m2 offers workshops, artistic exhibitions and an educational expedition to raise awareness of plastic pollution, water quality and even climate change. Times to “come out of the fog and discover solutions” to marine pollution, adds the association.
Recycle marine waste
Having left Marseille in October 2022 for more than three years, the Plastic Odyssey expedition has returned to France. Embarked on a 40-meter laboratory ship, the NGO traveled the seas to discover, reference and share concrete solutions to the plastic waste crisis. At each of the 45 stops, the Plastic Odyssey ship welcomed local recycling entrepreneurs on board. Microenterprises have been created.
“We will now share the good ideas collected around the world and develop awareness-raising actions at the local level, in France,” indicates Alexandre Dechelotte, co-founder of Plastic Odyssey. Until July, the association is organizing a tour through nine port cities, in which local branches of Plastic Odyssey will be launched.
