Abstract
This study evaluated current status of marine sand mining and related assessment systems in Korea for supporting effective policy development. The estimated total deposit of sand was ca. 10 billion $m^3$, while the estimated minable amount was ca. 5.5 billion $m^3$, in which marine sand accounted for 21%. The proportion of marine sand to the total mined aggregates has steadily increased by 15% in 1992 to 28% in 2002, but recently slightly decreased. Marine sand mining is regulated under a consultation system on the coastal development according to the "Marine Environmental Management Act". During 2002-2009, a total of 184 million $m^3$ of marine sand was mined, and the annual amount ranged from 17,440,000-33,698,000 $m^3$ the coastal area accounted for 64.5% and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) 35.5%. In the coastal area, the major area supplying the marine sand was Gyeonggi Bay (>62%) followed by some southwestern coastal areas. The South and the West EEZ explained 23.9% and 11.6% of the total mined sand. The extent of marine sand mining in Korea was evaluated to be greater compared with other countries. Large-scale concentrated and repeated sand mining can damage environmental changes and ecology with long-term accumulated impacts.
