2021 Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) and the University of Exeter Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation Acoustic Survey of the seagrass beds

Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (Cornwall IFCA) were contracted by the University of Exeter to map the extent of the seagrass within the Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The contract includes joint intellectual property (IP) of all data collected. In 2020, Cornwall Council declared a climate emergency and set new targets to achieve carbon net zero by 2030. To achieve carbon neutrality, a climate change action plan was produced. The project was commissioned to consider how specialist evidence and development of nature recovery plans can be used in the marine environment to help deliver Cornwall Councils carbon neutral and environmental growth goals. The seagrass was mapped “to gather specialist evidence for restoration plans and blue carbon accounts to guide the delivery of practical measures to maximise marine nature recovery and carbon drawdown by eelgrass in the Fal and Helford estuaries” (Cornwall Council, 2021). The aim of the survey was to map the extent and coverage of the seagrass beds within the Fal and Helford SAC using a Biosonics MX Scientific Echosounder. In total 407 MX tows were completed of which 403 were included in the analysis.