Faced with significant maintenance costs and competition from the ten times more productive (40,000 against 400,000 tons) Camargue saltworks of Giraud or Aigues-Mortes, the Salins d'Hyères site ceased all production at the end of the 20th century. The Vieux Salins closed in 1992 and the Salin des Pesquiers in 1995. In September 2001, the Coastal Protection Agency bought the whole Salins d'Hyères following an expropriation procedure based on a public interest decision from the French state.