2005-2006, CEFAS, Marine Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF), Eastern English Channel Habitat Survey

"The aim of the Eastern English Channel Marine Habitat Map (EECMHM) study is to produce integrated regional habitat maps. The principal driver is the planned exploitation of substantial marine aggregate resources in this area and the need to place these resources in a wider spatial context to inform management decicisionsrelating to sustainable use and conservation. The EECMHM study provides this context through regional scale geological and biological interpretations and will contribute to the effective stewardship of the marine environment by providing broader understanding of how the potential resource areas relate to the wider wider regional ecology and physical processes. The study area covers an extensive sea bed area of approximately 5090km² between Selsey Bill and Dungeness, out to the UK/France median line, centred on ten current aggregate licence application areas."