New marker buoys to protect seagrass in Falmouth 

In a collaborative effort to protect the seagrass beds, Advanced Mooring System (AMS) marker buoys have been installed off Trefusis Head, Falmouth, establishing voluntary no-anchor zones. 

The project is a joint venture between Falmouth Harbour, Ocean Conservation, Mylor Mooring Services Ltd, and Cornwall Council, which funded the installation.

Mylor Mooring Services Ltd. was responsible for designing, developing, and installing the buoys marking these environmentally sensitive areas of seagrass and maerl. With this latest installation, the Falmouth Harbour and Bay areas now have a total of 26 markers, protecting around 30 hectares of seagrass habitats. 

The UK’s latest seagrass project outlines how traditional mooring and anchoring techniques can have a detrimental effect on underwater habitats, such as scouring the seabed. A study by University College London estimates that at least 44 per cent of the UK’s seagrass has been lost since 1936, with anchoring contributing to some of this decline. This new buoy design features a system that keeps the mooring risers off the seabed without requiring floats, improving upon a concept previously tested with older systems.

Vicki Spooner, Falmouth Harbour’s environmental manager, says: “It has been a pleasure working with three very different organisations whose shared aim is to raise awareness of seagrass and other sensitive habitats and reduce the impacts on them of anchoring and mooring on the seabed. 

“They ultimately contribute to our goal of increasing biodiversity within harbour waters. We need to ensure these habitats don’t just survive but thrive.”

Eden Stevens, Blue Meadows community engagement officer at Ocean Conservation, notes the early positive results: “Our collaboration towards the protection and regeneration of our seagrass beds here in Falmouth is a real pleasure, and it’s even more rewarding to see that these marker buoys are working, with people respecting the voluntary no-anchor zones and anchoring outside of them. It provides hope that the future of seagrass can be a thriving one.”

Meanwhile, Ollie Hill of Mylor Mooring Services Ltd highlights the potential for expansion: “We are acutely aware of the impacts we all have on the environment, and we are really proud to be able to add these buoys to our growing portfolio in this precious part of the world.

“We have identified a significant number of port notice buoys and other marine marks in the Fal and Helford areas, all of which could be safely converted to our Port Notice AMS, and we look forward to future collaborations to support this environmental initiative.”

Images courtesy of Mylor Mooring Services Ltd.