The marine estate is involved in a huge variety of communities and business sectors all across the country. Although for the sake of presentation not all of our activities sit naturally beside one another, they are by no means fringe operations. For instance, leases for cables and pipeline are one of the largest single contributors to the estate's income, accounting for almost a quarter of turnover. For further information on these varied activities, please follow the links above or below.

Cables and Pipelines

As with offshore aggregate dredging and offshore renewable energy, The Crown Estate plays a pivotal role in the cables and pipelines business, issuing leases for major pipeline and cable projects.

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Metal Detecting

Metal detecting has an enthusiastic following in the UK. As owners of around 55% of the foreshore, we are landlords of many attractive sites for this recreation, and anyone wishing to go metal detecting on Crown Estate foreshore will require a permit.

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Minerals Potash

The Crown Estate owns the rights to explore and utilise the natural resources of the UK continental shelf (excluding oil, gas and coal). Although our mineral interests focus mainly on the extraction of marine aggregates, we do also have interests in salt and more significantly potash mined from our land.

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Wildfowling

Foreshore, coastal marshes and estuaries have for centuries been an important place for wildfowling. The hunting of wild birds is recognised as a form of sustainable use by EU directives, and we acknowledge our responsibility to ensure that wildfowling is carried out in a sustainable manner.

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