Development along shorelines can very easily destroy or alter the natural coastal ecosystems so that the food supply and habitat maintenance of Forage Fish is affected negatively. Ramona de Graff has made several presentations on the importance of Forage Fish and has encouraged local residents to join in the documentation of occurrence of eggs on beaches.

From The Islands Trust “Sharing our Shorelines”
page 6: Shorelines Connect – Linking The Land And The Sea

Marine Riparian Vegetation

The term “marine riparian” vegetation refers to grasses, shrubs, trees and logs lining marine shorelines. Marine riparian zones link the land and the sea through the exchange of water, sediments and nutrients.

Vegetation above the high water mark, within “backshore” areas such as

private shoreline properties, on bluff tops and slopes form the marine

riparian zone.

Insects captured by the winds as “wind fall” from shoreline vegetation are critical

for young salmon growth. Removing overhanging shoreline vegetation from summer

surf smelt spawning beaches causes embryos to die. Vegetation removal reduces key prey for juvenilesalmon and can reduce surf smelt populations. Fish losses affect the entire food web. Vegetated buffer zones are a wildlife migratory corridor and leaf litter provides nutrients to stimulate marine plankton growth.

Maintaining shoreline vegetation is a net benefit to property owners as a free

“ecosystem service” limiting erosion and stabilizing slope soils. Trees and

shrubs absorb large volumes of rain water and filter pollutants. Vegetation

removal may cause large sediment loads to enter the ocean limiting light for eelgrass growth and clogging fish gills.

See also on this website: Land Plants of Coastal Metchosin.