Collaborative approach for the management of harbour-dredged sediment in the Bay of Seine (France)
Résumé
Dredged material dumping is one of the most important human activities to be considered in coastal
zone management. Searching for a new site for depositing the sediment dredged from the entrance of
the navigation channel of Rouen harbour in the Seine estuary is complicated because of the combined
natural heritage and anthropogenic constraints. This paper presents the intricate background and the
collaborative efforts of the Seine estuary tripartite authority (National Government-Rouen Harbour-
Scientific Committee) to initiate an ecosystem approach for managing waste. The selection of a future
potential dumping area stems from a consideration of economic and logistic factors, both marine and
environmental, as well as various natural and anthropogenic constraints in the complex ecosystem of the
Seine estuary. It appears that a site with fine-to-medium clean sand situated offshore from the mouth of
the Seine estuary would be a good candidate from the biological and economic points of view. Additional
procedures on two experimental sites will be necessary before the French government can give a final
decision to authorize the Rouen harbour to exploit this new deposit location.