Résumé: Thau lagoon is a large Mediterranean coastal lagoons and it supports traditional shellfish farming activities. It has been subject to eutrophication leading to major anoxic events associated with massive mortalities of shellfish stocks. Since the 1970s, improvements have been made to wastewater treatment systems, which have gradually led to oligotrophication of the lagoon. The aim of our study was to determine how the decrease in nutrient inputs resulted in major ecological changes in Thau lagoon, by analysing five decades of time-series (1970–2018) of observations on pelagic and benthic autotrophic communities. We were able to identify two periods during the oligotrophication process. Period 1 (1970–1992) was considered a eutrophic period, characterised by the shift from seagrass dominance to dominance of red macroalgae. Period 2 (1993–2018), characterised by improved eutrophication status, was further divided into three: a transition phase (1993–2003) during which the water column continued to recover but the benthic community lagged behind in recovery and in partial resilience; a regime shift (2003–2006), after which the water column became oligotrophic and seagrass began to recover (2007–2018). Considering anoxia crises as indicators of ecosystem resilience and resistance, we used a generalised linear model to analyse meteorological and environmental data with the aim of identifying the triggers of summer anoxia over the study period. Among the meteorological variables studied, air temperature had the strongest positive effect, followed by the period and wind intensity (both negative effects) and by rainfall in July (positive effect). The risk of triggering anoxia was lower in period 2, evidence for the increasing resistance of the ecosystem to climatic stress throughout the oligotrophication process. At the ecosystem scale and in the long term perspective, the ecological gains related to oligotrophication are especially important in the context of climate change, with more frequent and severe heat waves predicted.

Résumé: The recent discovery of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (also known as Magallana gigas) spatfields in a Mediterranean lagoon intensely exploited for shellfish farming (Thau lagoon) revealed significant contrasts in spatial patterns of recruitment. We evaluated the processes that drive spatial patterns in oyster recruitment by comparing observed recruitment, simulated hydrodynamic connectivity and ecological variables. We hypothesized that spatial variability of recruitment depends on (1) hydrodynamic connectivity and (2) the ecology of the larval supply, settlement, metamorphosis, survival and biotic environmental parameters. We assessed recruitment at 6-8 experimental sites by larval sampling and spat collection inside and outside oyster farming areas and on an east-west gradient, from 2012-2014. Hydrodynamic connectivity was simulated using a numerical 3D transport model assessed with a Eulerian indicator. The supply of large umbo larvae did not differ significantly inside and outside oyster farming areas, whereas the supply of pediveligers to sites outside shellfish farms was structured by hydrodynamic connectivity. Inside shellfish farming zones, unfavorable conditions due to trophic competition with filter-feeders jeopardized their settlement. In this case, our results suggest loss of settlement competence by oyster larvae. This confirms our hypothesis of top-down trophic control by the oysters inside farming zones of Thau lagoon in summer that fails to meet the ecological requirements of these areas as oyster nurseries. Knowledge of oyster dispersal, connectivity and recruitment in coastal lagoons will help local development of sustainable natural spat collection. On a global scale, our method could be transposed to other basins or used for other species such as mussels, clams or scallops, to better understand the spatial patterns of bivalve recruitment. Management of the oyster industry based on natural spat collection will help develop a sustainable activity, based on locally adapted oyster strains but also by reducing the risks of transferring pathogens between basins and the global carbon footprint of this industry.

Résumé: Harmonizing coastal fisheries with water-quality improvement has become an essential factor for the sustainable use of coastal ecosystem services. Here, we present the scope of our study based on an interdisciplinary approach including ecological actions, socio-economic actions and socio-psychological actions. We chose to focus on the interaction between oyster aquaculture and seagrass vegetation as a typical ecological action using the coastal ecosystem complex (CEC) concept. Coastal organisms have adapted their traits to the environment over a long period of time, so that restoration of the CEC represents reconstruction of the original process of coastal production. Subtidal seagrass vegetation with intertidal oyster reefs is the original CEC in Japan, which would be expected to enhance coastal production by improving the production efficiency without adding nutrients. A simple field experiment examining carbon and nitrogen contents and stable isotope ratios revealed that oyster spats cultivated on a tidal flat adjacent to seagrass beds had higher nitrogen contents and higher delta C-13 ratios than spats cultivated in an offshore area using only pelagic production. This result suggests that utilization of the CEC, which enables oysters to use both pelagic and benthic production, has potential to sustain a food provisioning service for humans, even in oligotrophic conditions.

Résumé: Marine intrusion was simulated in a choked and in a restricted coastal lagoon by using a 3D-hydrodynamic model. To study the spatiotemporal progression of seawater intrusion and its mixing efficiency with lagoon waters we define Marine Mixed Volume (V-MM) as a new hydrodynamic indicator. Spatial patterns in both lagoons were described by studying the time series and maps of VMM taking into account the meteorological conditions encountered during a water year. The patterns comprised well-mixed zones (WMZ) and physical barrier zones (PBZ) that act as hydrodynamic boundaries. The choked Bages-Sigean lagoon comprises four sub-basins: a PBZ at the inlet, and two WMZ's separated by another PBZ corresponding to a constriction zone. The volumes of the PBZ were 2.1 and 5.4 millions m(3) with characteristic mixing timescale of 68 and 84 days, respectively. The WMZ were 123 and 433 millions m(3) with characteristics mixing timescale of 70 and 39 days, respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Résumé: The Thau lagoon, located at the South of France, provides 10% of the French pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas production. Despite this intensive shellfish production, the larval recruitment of this species within the Thau lagoon is still misunderstood and spat collection remains highly variable; as a consequence, shellfish farmers rely mostly on hatchery”s spat. The present study aimed to describe reproduction features of C. gigas within the Mediterranean, as well as to explore spawning triggers of this species. To achieve this goal, the reproduction cycle from gametogenesis to spawning was followed during two years in several locations within the Mediterranean Thau lagoon. The spawning behavior of C. gigas within the Thau lagoon appeared to be slightly different from the one of the Atlantic Coast, showing several spawning events from June to October. The minimal temperature for massive spawning was 23 °C, which is much higher than temperatures mentioned in the literature for this species. A strong relationship was found between phytoplankton communities and gametogenesis, the latter being improved by a higher diatom/dinoflagellate ratio. Temperature was insufficient alone to explain spawning, highlighting other potential triggers such as the moon or lightning strikes. We made the hypothesis of a hierarchy of events triggering spawning, encompassing locking, synchrony and intensifying triggers.
Statement of relevance
This paper is filling in a gap in the literature regarding to reproduction of C. gigas in the Thau lagoon, which is always associated to temperature. However, temperature may not be the only factor involved in oyster reproduction, that is what we tried to show in this paper.

Résumé: We present the first large-scale, high-resolution spatial and temporal pattern of disease mortality caused by Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) that has affected Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in France every year since 2008, in relation to local farm use. Mortality was monitored in healthy oyster spat deployed at 106 locations in the Thau Mediterranean lagoon during the epizootic that occurred in spring 2011. We conducted a field survey of farming practices in the areas where the sentinel oysters were placed before the epizootic. We found that the risk of disease mortality in sentinel oysters was higher within the bivalve farming area than outside it, suggesting that the infection pressure is much higher in areas with intensive farming activity. The risk of mortality was higher in farms rearing spat, a developmental stage particularly susceptible to OsHV-1, than in farms rearing adult oysters, which are generally more resistant. Additionally, the mortality risk in farms rearing adult animals was similar to that in empty farms, which suggests that, during the study period, adult oysters did not vector the disease. Interestingly, the mortality risk for sentinel oysters deployed in mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis farms was lower than for those held in oyster farms or empty farms, suggesting that mussels reduced the infection pressure on susceptible oysters.