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

• SPA 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.

Fal and Helford Special area of conservation (SAC)

• Natural England SAC Management Plan
• Natural England Conservation Advice Package
• Site Improvement Plan for the Fal and Helford
• European Site Conservation Objectives from Fal & Helford SAC

Falmouth Bay to St Austell Bay Special Protection Area (SPA)

• Site Conservation Objectives
• Working agreement between Natural England and Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (50-R020-01)

Invasive Species

• Marine Pathways leaflet – Non native species and shellfish
• Results of Marine Biological Association Survey on Falmouth Haven Pontoons 2013 & 2016

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)
• Port of Falmouth Approach Channel Dredge & Habitat Mitigation Scheme HRA (50-R039-01)

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.