Falmouth Harbour Commissioners have two resident environmental monitoring buoys continuously assessing and collecting data about the environmental conditions in the estuary. Watch the live data feed from the buoys sensors.

A list of information relating to the environmental management of the area and research that has been carried out is provided below.

Planned / ongoing research initiatives

• pSPA vessel disturbance study
• Anchorage study. This study has been commissioned by defra and aims to provide further information on the environmental impacts of anchoring and mooring activities.
• ShellEye Project. This project is being run by Exeter University and aims to provide tools to shellfish farmers to monitor and forecast water quality.

Register of developments

• List of proposed / approved developments that are planned or underway for the Falmouth Port area or near to it of which we have been advised.

Special area of conservation (SAC)

• Natural England SAC Management Plan
• Natural England DRAFT Conservation Guidelines N.B. the full package is planned for publication as an interactive more easily digestible web-based system in 2016
• Site Improvement Plan for the Fal and Helford
• European Site Conservation Objectives from Fal & Helford SAC

Proposed Special Protection Area (pSPA)

• Working agreement between Natural England and Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (50-R020-01)
• Consultation document – Since formal consultation closed, Natural England has reviewed and responded to a large volume of consultation responses. Recommendations to classify the site were submitted to DEFRA during March 2015 and Natural England are awaiting a response from the Secretary of State.

Invasive Species

• Marine Pathways leaflet – Non native species and shellfish

Maerl

• Marine Ecological Survey of the Fal Estuary: Effects of Maerl Extraction – January 2004 – Royal Haskoning (50-R017-01)
• Monitoring Survey of the Fal Estuary: Effects of Maerl Extraction – November 2004 – Royal Haskoning (50-R016-01)
• The Impact of Commercial anchoring on maerl beds in Fal Bay – Newton (2011) (50-R005-01)
• Testing the resilience of dead maerl infaunal assemblages to the experimental removal and relay of habitat (2015) – this paper has been published in the Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Recreation

Guidance

• FHC Environmental Code of Practice for Harbour Users (50-R021-01)
• Environmental Guidance for boat users is available from the RYA and British Marine.
• Marine and Coastal Code Guidelines (50-R022-01) – describes how to avoid disturbance to marine animals, they also have a 24/7 hotline to report disturbance of marine animals 0345 201 26 26

Technical studies

• Fal & Helford Recreational Boating Study (50-R000-01)
• Transferable methodology: Estimating the ecological impact of recreational boating infrastructure at an Estuary scale (50-R001-01)

Port Development

• Port of Falmouth Master Plan (50-R023-01)
• Falmouth Cruise Project EIA – Marine Ecological Survey – January 2008 – Sea Star Survey Ltd (50-R014-01)
• Falmouth Cruise Project – Environmental Statement – Non-technical Summary – 2008 – Royal Haskoning (50-R012-01)
• Falmouth Cruise Project – Environmental Statement – Non-technical summary – 2009 – Royal Haskoning (50-R010-01)
• Falmouth Cruise Project – Environmental Statement – 2009 – Royal Haskoning (50-R011-01)

Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)

• If you cannot find what you are looking for and think that FHC hold this information please see our EIR policy (50-000-01) and information on how to request information.