Fisheries Habitat Enhancement Project Wins 2009 Coastal America Partnership Award
Chesapeake Bay Sportfish Benefit from Restored Wetlands Habitat
In March 2009 the FishAmerica Foundation, in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, awarded $20,000 to the National Aquarium of Baltimore to restore one acre of fisheries habitat along Hail Cove, a tributary to the Chester River located within the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The Aquarium raised nearly $500,000 in cash and in-kind donations from 14 partners to complete this fisheries habitat restoration project.
The Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing more than 2,200 acres at the mouth of the Chester River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, provides important spawning and nursery areas for many sportfish including striped bass, alewife, shad and perch. However, shoreline erosion is a significant issue for the refuge. The average rate of shoreline loss along the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge is five feet per year.
Aerial surveys over the past 10 years reveal the importance of protecting Hail Creek from damaging erosion due to prevailing winds. The living shoreline will reduce shore erosion and create marsh and reef habitat for Chesapeake Bay wildlife such as striped bass.
During this past fall, project partners and volunteers spent over 300 hours planting more than 17,000 native marsh plants to restore nearly one acre of wetland. The project is part of a larger effort to restore water quality and fisheries habitat within the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge and the Chesapeake Bay. The overall restoration project included installing breakwaters to reduce wave action and erosion along Hail Cove, restoring 800 feet of eroded shoreline, and using sand and native plants to stabilize the isthmus separating Hail Creek from the rest of the Chester River. Volunteers were trained in the proper techniques of planting wetland plants and given a safety briefing before being led by aquarium staff in the day’s planting activity.
In November 2009, the Hail Cove Shoreline Protection project was recognized by Coastal America as a recipient of the 2009 Coastal America Partnership Award for outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment. The award is the highest award given by the President of the United States that recognizes outstanding collaborative, multi-agency, and multi-stakeholder efforts to accomplish coastal restoration, preservation, protection, and education projects.
Volunteers from Goucher College, Rock Hall Elementary School, Friends of Eastern Neck and the National Aquarium Conservation Team participate in planting native vegetation along Hail Cove.