The rising interest in environmental and ecosystem dynamics have lead coastal oceanographers to not only investigate the “traditional” physical parameters describing the ocean state and its dynamics (e.g. temperature, salinity, currents, water levels in coastal areas), but to also account for the dynamics of parameters describing its biogeochemical components. To that end, MARS3D regional and coastal modelling system has been coupled to ecosystem modules (ECO-MARS3D, ECO3M) as well as sediment dynamics modules (MARS3D-SEDIM): sediment, nutrient and primary production contents can be considered as the lower level environment and ecosystem descriptors of the “biogeochemical” ocean. Early investments into physical and biological analysis at the regional scale have led to the development of several operational configurations within PREVIMER since 2006 for physical and biological parameters, providing 3 to 5-day forecasts as well as hindcasts. The more recent introduction of sediment-related parameters into the operational chain required validating computed sediment transport at the regional scale. Such validation is mostly accessible through indirect measurements – namely turbidity measurements in the water column or derived from satellite data. This paper describes the main features of MARS3D sediment module, the sensitivity analyses and the validation procedures based on dedicated data acquisition, as well as the assessment of the operational configuration focused on the Bay of Biscay continental shelf. Comparison between in situ measurements and satellite data shows a fairly systematic overestimation of the satellite-derived SPM in Southern Brittany; this result stresses the need for further investigation regarding the correct quantitative satellite SPM determination at all times and all places. On the other hand, numerical results highlight the difficulty to simultaneously predict the correct magnitude of bottom and surface concentrations.