The Dee Estuary currently has five large cockle beds, three are accessed from the Welsh shore and two from Wirral (West Kirby and Thurstaston) and are partly within the areas of the estuary owned by Wirral Council.
Although the council owns the land, fishing rights and their management in the Dee are the responsibility of Natural Resources Wales.
A number of byelaws exist which relate to the methods of gathering cockles and these are enforced by Natural Resources Wales.
In recent years Natural Resources Wales has been able to place further restrictions by closing the beds for most of the year and restricting the times of day and days of the week when cockling takes place.
A permit is needed to take a vehicle onto the foreshore to remove cockles.
Cockle fishing licence
You will also need a cockle fishing licence: