Seaweed harvesting

The Crown Estate licenses sustainable, commercial production and harvesting of seaweed from areas of foreshore and seabed within our ownership.

Commercial production and harvesting of seaweed from areas of Crown Estate foreshore or seabed requires permission from The Crown Estate. This helps to ensure the practice is managed sustainably and with the approval of the relevant natural heritage authority , i.e. Natural England, Natural Resources Wales or The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.

Gathering of seaweed by hand for commercial purposes also requires our permission, as does any form of seaweed activity within any designated site (e.g. SSSI, SAC, SPA, ASSI).

To apply for our permission to harvest/produce seaweed please provide:

• An indication of the exact location where you are looking to harvest/produce

• Whether you propose to undertake activity on the foreshore only (i.e. between Mean Low Water and Mean High Water) or below Mean Low Water as well/instead

• An indication of the species of interest

• A rough indication of the annual wet weight volume of seaweed sought (in 10’s or 100’s of KGs)

• An indication of the duration of activity the application relates to i.e. over what period of time are you seeking access to Crown Estate seabed/foreshore

• An outline plan that provides some detail about the nature of the activity you’re seeking to undertake, including where relevant:

1. Description of the approach you plan to take to harvesting/production

2. Any infrastructure you plan to deploy

3. A high level business plan for the duration of the permitted activity

4. An indication of the offtake product/market opportunity the activity is seeking to connect in to

5. An indication of any data you plan to collect as part of your proposed activity

• Documented confirmation from the relevant environmental authority, stating their satisfaction that the proposed activity is sustainable and will not result in any significant adverse environmental effects

Please note that any Crown Estate permission is subject to applicants securing all necessary statutory consents that may be relevant. Evidence that these additional consents have been sought and are in progress will be required.

Please direct any queries and initial application correspondence to the relevant Managing Agent according to location. Managing agent details can be found here.