5.4.2 Golfe Normand-Breton: Main Activities and Uses
In terms of human geography, the Normandy and Brittany coasts are heterogeneous. The coast of Normandy is generally less developed and urbanised than that of Brittany, which also has a higher population density and attracts more people for living and tourism.
With its bays, harbours, vast shores, numerous islands, and sandy, silty and rocky habitats performing many functions (coastal habitat nurseries, etc.), the Normano-Breton Gulf provides humankind with numerous services. Generally, the whole coast, is characterised by small to medium towns and villages with economies reliant to a significant extent on those services.
Together with the traditional activities carried out in the Gulf, the question arises of sharing the space between current and future activities, preserving marine habitats and species and maintaining the quality of the services that the marine environment provides.
There is a great diversity and concentration of economic maritime activities such as :
- professional fishing
- shellfish farming
- seaside tourism
- aggregate extraction
- agriculture
- nuclear power and fuel reprocessing industries
- recreational on-shore and boat-based fishing
- water sports
- nature observation
- gastronomy
As well as broad range of uses of the sea and the foreshore. Others, such as renewable marine energies and certain forms of aquaculture, are extremely important for development in this area.
