4. FRANCE

This country report was written by Henri Farrugio, Ifremer, Sete, France.

4.1 Introduction

The 20 French lagoons are located along the continental Mediterranean coastline (Languedoc Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions) and along the eastern coastline of the Corsica island (Figure 1) and cover a total surface of 52 164 ha.Their general characteristics have been described in several reports and publications from which the information in the present country report is extracted (Quignard et al., 1980; Reynal, 1980, Cepralmar, 1984; 2003, Farrugio and Le Corre, 1985; Quignard, 1989; Le Corre, 1990; Arfi, 1991; DIREN, 2007; Barral et al., 2007; Pole Relais Lagunes, 2008; Ifremer, 2010; Charret and Passerieux, 2011; Gervasoni et al., 2011).

Figure 1. Geographical situation of the French Mediterranean lagoons