Crown Estate Dredging Statistics 1998-2007
The Crown Estate have released their official marine dredging statistics covering the nineteen years 1998-2007.
Area Licensed:
The area of seabed licensed decreased by a net 387.09km2, with the greatest reductions occurring within 12 nautical miles of the coast. 749.84km2 of licensed area was surrendered.
362.44km2 of new area was licensed, the majority of which was beyond 12 nautical miles out.
Area Dredged
The area of seabed dredged in a single year ranged from 222.60 sq.km in 1998 to 134.51 sq.km in 2004. Just over half of this was taken off Great Yarmouth.
Cumulative Footprint
The total area of seabed dredged between 1998 and 2007 amounted to 463.71sq.km of which 54.52sq.km (11.76 per cent) is no longer licensed. The area of new seabed dredged annually has reduced from 75.44sq.km in 1999 (34 per cent of the total area) to 11.79sq.km in 2007 (8.76 per cent of the total area).
Over the full ten-year period (1998-2007), the average area of new seabed dredged each year was 26.79sq.km, however during the most recent five-year period (2003-2007) this figure has reduced to 16.73sq.km/year.
A total of 221.215 million tonnes of marine sand and gravel was dredged from Crown Estate licence areas between 1998 and 2007. Averaged across the cumulative footprint, this represents 29cm of sediment being removed across the entire area dredged.
