Environmental groups prepare lawsuit against salmon farming project in Gironde

Le Verdon-sur-Mer – 04/08/2026: Several environmental and animal welfare organizations, including Seastemik, say they are preparing legal action against a planned salmon farming facility in Le Verdon-sur-Mer in the Gironde department. The French state approved the project on Tuesday. The land-based facility is intended to produce up to 10,000 tonnes of salmon annually.

The project is being developed by Saumon du Medoc, a company belonging to the Pure Salmon group. The plan calls for an aquaculture facility in the industrial and port area of Le Verdon-sur-Mer, at the Gironde estuary. The fish are to be kept in a closed-loop system in which water is technically treated and reused. According to the planning documents, the complex will also include facilities for processing the fish.

The announced legal action is directed against the administrative approval. Seastemik and other organizations had already criticized the project during the review process. Their objections primarily concern water and energy requirements, the discharge of treated wastewater, potential impacts on the ecosystem, and farming conditions at this scale of production. The Gironde estuary is an ecologically sensitive area where industrial activity and nature conservation have long intersected closely.

The decision was preceded by a public inquiry held from December 15, 2025, to January 19, 2026. It covered environmental authorization under regulations governing industrial facilities and water management, as well as a building permit application. The inquiry commission published its conclusions in March. In early July, the Departmental Council for Environment, Health and Technological Risks, CoDERST, subsequently issued a favorable opinion.

The municipality of Le Verdon-sur-Mer had also voted by a majority in favor of the project in December 2025. At the same time, it called for additional water-quality monitoring and requirements for handling phosphate-containing residues. According to the procedural documents, brackish water is to be treated for fish farming. Drinking water from the public network is intended mainly for staff and welfare facilities.

The project developers point to domestic production in a country that meets a large share of its salmon consumption through imports. Opponents counter with potential environmental costs and fundamental concerns about industrial fish farming. At the end of May, the facility was also the subject of a debate in the National Assembly on land-based salmon farms.

The announcement of legal proceedings does not initially suspend the approval. It remains unclear when the organizations will file a case with the competent administrative court and whether they will also seek an emergency injunction.