Concern Over Maerl Dredging

Conservationists in the UK are claiming that dredging maerl, a material used by farmers as an organic fertilizer, from a Cornish estuary, should be stopped to protect the area. They claim that dredging maerl, a form of calcified seaweed used as a fertiliser, which has been taking place in the Fal estuary for the last 30 years, could be damaging marine life. The Cornish Calcified Seaweed Company has a licence to extract about 30,000 tons of maerl annually, using a dredger.