Abstract
Port areas are coastal socio-ecosystems, located at the land-sea interface, subject to both autochthonous sources of pollution and receiving terrigenous inputs from watersheds. This project focuses on the study of the problem of dredging operations in port areas on both shores of the Mediterranean: in the north the ports of the Gulf of Aigues Mortes (France) and in the south the port of Ghar el Melah (Tunisia). The study focuses on monitoring the resuspension of chemical and microbiological contaminants during these operations. The initial state of water and sediment quality before the dredging operations is underway in the port of Carnon and a sampling campaign is planned for June 2022 in the port of Ghar el Melah. Monitoring of the remittance will be implemented in the fall, which will allow the port management to take management measures and reduce these contaminations if necessary. A focus will be made on the comparison of the management of these dredging operations on the two shores of the Mediterranean and the potential to reuse these sediments for beach nourishment in erosion. Finally, perception surveys among the actors and users of the ports on the risk of marine submersion, on the perception of the degradation of the quality of the environment, on the dredging operations and the reuse of the dredged sediments, on the uses are underway on the different sites in France and Tunisia.