The Omaha Mussel Park Project raises reservations

A public inquiry was opened at the town hall of Vierville-sur-Mer from April 8 to May 5 about several applications for concessions of marine crops in the Omaha sector. An extraordinary city council was to meet on Friday evening to discuss it. The project provoked strong reactions in this part of the coast marked by the Landing of June 6, 1944.

The requests concerned different facilities: deep-water flat mussel farming, rope catchment, raised concession on the edge at the tip and at the Raz de la Percée, rope farming near the boxes and rope catchment along them for flat breeding.

At the café La Plage d'or, facing the coast, a resident denounced a project that he considered contrary to the respect due to the soldiers who came to liberate the region. Another recognized the right of project leaders to earn a living, but wanted a more remote location.

Jean Dumesnil, who lived in Vierville at least six months a year, wondered about the compatibility of the project with seasonal bans on shellfish collection. He mentioned the opinions related to a poisonous algae and wondered why these risks would not affect the mold pits envisaged. He also feared a deterioration in bathing conditions and considered the establishment as an attack on the memory of the place. These are the concerns he expressed in the article, and not a health conclusion established by him.

Jean-Yves Mobe, Deputy Departmental Director of Maritime Affairs of Calvados, recalled that no decision had been made. Even after a favorable opinion from the investigating commissioner, the file still had to go before the Marine Culture Commission. He therefore considered it premature to prejudice his outcome. An elected official from Vierville indicated, however, that the eleven councillors were opposed to the project.

Mayor Jean-Marie Oxéant was reserved. He noted a difference between the initial presentation, limited to the capture of births in the artificial port, and the file finally received: the ropes had to float between two waters instead of resting on the bottom, and one hectare of breeding tables was announced on natural molds.

In favor of the widest possible use of the coastline, he did not wish to close the discussion. However, he regretted the lack of details on the installations on land: where would tractors, boats and equipment be stored, especially near the campsite and the departure of the coastal trail? He was afraid that the wind would take away equipment on the beach. The access of professionals, possible only by Vierville according to him, also raised a difficulty.

The mayor finally feared a threat to fishing on foot, an old hobby attracting hundreds of people at high tides, and future conflicts between professionals, bathers and other users. He intended to preserve the family character of the beach and called for mobilization in the public inquiry. Not to mention the emotion aroused by an economic project on this place of memory, he considered an additional activity interesting, but refused the proposed conditions. The article is signed F. Terrible.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/Photos2008/2002-moulesAvril2002.jpg