Control Hardened Shoreline

The Control Hardened shoreline habitats are built with riprap and are located to the northeast and southwest of the Project GreenShores sites. They represent one of the most common forms of hardened shoreline protection. The control shorelines differ from the restored hardened shoreline habitats because they are not protected from wave action by breakwaters and marsh mounds like the riprap shorelines within Project GreenShores I and II. The control shorelines also lack the complex seascape found within the restoration sites, having only bare unvegetated sediment in the adjacent open waters. These hard structures can help to maintain shoreline position, however, they don’t provide the full range of ecosystem services and benefits that natural shoreline habitats do, hence the move towards hybrid or living shoreline approaches that protect the shore and provide a range of other benefits such as high-quality fish habitat. Although we see a lower diversity and abundance of fish on the control hardened shorelines, they do provide some habitat value. Check out the videos below of fish on the control hardened shorelines.

Videos