Pure Salmon: stop the ecocidal salmon farm project in the Gironde estuary
In the Médoc Natural Park at Verdon-sur-Mer, Pure Salmon plans to create Europe’s largest land-based salmon farm. Every year, 3 million fish –equivalent to 10,000 tonnes– would be farmed to die and be consumed. Behind a well-rehearsed discourse on “ecological sustainability” and innovation lies a project that is destructive to animals, the environment and natural resources. One Voice is firmly opposed to it. Join us now in the public consultation running until 19 January 2026 to say no to this project which fuels a model that is far from ethical.
An excessive project in the Gironde estuary
€275 million from Singaporean funds to destroy a sensitive wetland: this is Pure Salmon’s project which involves the construction of an intensive land-based fish farm in an ecosystem that is already fragile and seriously threatened by artificialisation. On an area of around 15 hectares, 10,000 tonnes of salmon would be “produced” each year using a ‘Recirculating Aquaculture System’ in closed tanks and in an ultra-intensive manner, throughout their –all too short– lives.
This model is being presented as more environmentally friendly. Like Local Ocean, it is a genuine attempt at greenwashing: in addition to being experimental, the system poses risks to the estuary’s ecosystem and fish. The consequences are inevitable and numerous: the release of bacteria and the resulting spread of disease, lasting changes to habitats, particularly through eutrophication, soil contamination and disruption to the biological balance of the estuary and local marine fauna. Not to mention the discharge of phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter. The list is long, and the problems would be multiplied tenfold in the event of a system failure.
Water and electricity resources exploited to excess: not really eco-friendly
Pure Salmon overlooks the fact that mass fish “production” runs counter to resource conservation. Fish farming requires constant monitoring of water temperature to prevent the salmon from suffering heat stress, which requires as much electricity as a town of 40,000 inhabitants.
Added to this is the extraction of 270 m³ of water per hour, or 6,500 m³ per day, from brackish water aquifers –above freshwater aquifers– equivalent to 950 Olympic swimming pools each year… This would eventually lead to salt water infiltration into the freshwater reservoirs. This is food for thought, given the increasing number of heat waves each year.
10,000 tonnes of salmon per year… and 233 billion fish caught to feed them
Pure Salmon extolls the animal welfare in their plans to supply France with salmon. 10,000 tonnes of these animals–an estimated 3 million individuals– would be “produced” in conditions that raise questions. These formidable migrants would live in densities and conditions incompatible with their biological needs, and would be subject to high mortality risks that are not without impact on their wild counterparts.
All these sentient beings will need to be fed, but how? Farming ultimately leads to even more intensive fishing: just to produce the animal meal, 233 billion fish would need to be caught worldwide –mainly off the African coast– and nearly 436,000 tonnes of soya would need to be grown. While the government is falling behind, do we really need to fuel this mass consumption?
Say no to this ecological disaster and the suffering of salmon
One Voice is mobilising against this project and is ready to challenge the authorisations if they are signed by the prefect. Join us by taking part in the public consultation which is open until 19 January 2026: the more people who participate, the better our chances of getting it stopped!