The role of the UK’s marine aggregate industry is to find and extract natural resources for the benefit of the nation as a whole. To do that, it has to meet rigorous licensing and regulatory requirements. Commercial licences are granted by The Crown Estate, who own the seabed to the 12-mile territorial limit and the rights to non-energy mineral rights out to the edge of the UK continental shelf. The licensing process starts with tendering and prospecting.

Regulation falls to the Marine and Fisheries Agency in England, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive, which provide dredging permissions under the terms of The Environmental Impact Assessment and Natural Habitats (Extraction of Minerals by Marine Dredging) (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2007 (or the equivalent regulations under the devolved administrations).Once a permission has been granted, operators must then meet conditions that require tight management and control.

Dredging takes place in over 70 licensed areas which together cover about 0.145% of the continental shelf. A fleet of 28 purpose-built marine aggregate dredgers delivers to a network of over 60 wharves in England and Wales where the dredged aggregate may be subject to further processing. It may also be incorporated into added-value products such as ready-mixed concrete, and cast items such as blocks and pipes.