Dredging, navigation and revetment construction • Sediment extraction • Turf cutting • Hay making • Reed cutting • Samphire gathering • Spartina

Reed cutting

Cutting of reed (Phragmites communis) for use in thatching is a traditional use of the upper and transitional marsh. Reed cutting was undertaken in 12 out of the 155 estuaries covered by the Estuaries Review (Davidson et al., 1991), though only in the Tay Estuary is it a major commercial operation. Here, there has been some concern about the impact of cutting on breeding bird populations, such as Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler, and rotational cutting outside of the breeding season is favoured.