Natural Resource Inventory and Assessment - Town of Guilford

Coast
B2
coves and inlets. The dominant feature of the Guilford shoreline is its rocky shorefront; tidal wetlands exist
along 17 percent of the shoreline. Guilford’s coastal area includes Faulkner’s Island and coastal waters to the
mid-point of Long Island Sound.
Eight rivers, including the East and West Rivers and Sluice Creek, flow from Guilford into Long Island
Sound. Hoadley Creek drains Towner Swamp, a large freshwater wetland near the Branford Town line.
Details of the numerous creeks, coves, bays, marshes, and river estuaries which constitute Guilford’s coastline
can be seen on Map B-1 and B-2. Tides influence the lower two miles of Guilford’s West River and the lower 3
to 4 miles of the East River. Saltwater tidal marshes and mud flats occur not only on Guilford’s shorefront,
they also extend up the West and East Rivers until salt water is diluted by fresh water from upstream.
Approximately 80 percent of Guilford’s coastline is in residential ownership. Public owners on the
shoreline include Connecticut DEP (294 acres), and the Town of Guilford (94 acres); Guilford Land
Conservation Trust and National Audubon each own several small parcels. Beach frontage is primarily
privately owned and there are more than ten private beach associations. Jacob’s Beach is the only public
beach, aside from a half-acre beach at Shell Beach on Leete’s Island. (See Appendix B Coastal Data.)
According to the 2000 Census, more than 16 percent of Guilford’s population (3,297 residents) live in
the quadrangle between the East and West Rivers, I-95 and the coast. This area represents less than 3
percent (approximately 700 acres) of Guilford’s total land area. Within the Coastal Management Area are four
commercial and industrial areas: Boston Post Road East (includes Shoreline Plaza), the shopping area near the
Town Green, Lower Whitfield Street (includes the area around the train station and the Town Marina), and the
quadrant north of Amtrak bounded by Soundview Road, Route One, and South Union Street.
B.4 Importance
The natural resources of Guilford’s coastal area are important for many reasons.
Food source. At the center of the food web that includes lobsters, clams, and oysters are one-celled
plants called phytoplankton. These plants depend on a complex dynamic among mud, silt, tides, wind,
currents, and sun. Eaten by animals such as mussels, snails, crabs, and minnows (which are themselves
subsequently eaten by fish), phytoplankton could be considered the single most important element of any
coastal system. Most of the fish that we eat start their lives in tidal wetlands. Tidal wetlands are one of the
most biologically productive natural systems known, second only to rain forests. As twice-daily tides carry
nutrients back and forth between the marshes and Long Island Sound, they also carry fresh water from
upland areas and rivers into the Sound.
Wildlife habitat. Because of its abundant food supply, Guilford’s coastal system serves as an important
food source, breeding ground, nursery for raising young, and resting stop for thousands of migratory birds
along the Atlantic Flyway, a major eastern migration route also used by monarch butterflies.
Ecosystem services. Through filtration, tidal wetlands improve water quality by reducing turbidity and
restricting the passage of toxins. Tidal wetland vegetation stabilizes the shoreline and buffers erosion. Because
of their capacity to absorb water, tidal marshes protect human property by dissipating waves during storms.
Bivalves such as hard and softshelled clams also provide a cleansing effect by virtue of their filter feeding habit.
Commercial fishing. Historically, the coastal marshes and the Sound were primary sources of food for
Native Americans and Europeans who settled in Guilford. Today lobsters, shellfish, blue and black fish provide
activity for commercial fishermen in Guilford. The Guilford Shellfish Commission (GSC) issues annual leases
for commercial fishing from clam and oyster beds off the coast and in the East and West Rivers. Shellfish from
restricted areas are also trucked into Island Creek by commercial fishermen for a six-to-eight-week period of
“cleansing” before being removed and relocated for harvesting from other locations. Oyster beds are managed
by the Shellfish Commission on the East River and the West River. At another boatyard on the West River,
Natural Resource Inventory and Assessment Town of Guilford, CT