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What you'll find here - an overview

There will be a new look to this web site shortly. Regulations adopted by the Department will make a number of administrative and regulatory changes to the Commonwealth’s public access program.

The Commonwealth’s Office of Fishing and Boating Access (FBA) and its programs are the responsibility of the Department’s Director of Fishing and Boating Access, John P. Sheppard, and the Public Access Board. The FBA provides boat and canoe access sites at more than 250 locations on coastal waters, great ponds and rivers throughout Massachusetts. The Department, in conjunction with the Board, acquires property and easements for the purpose of providing access and through the FBA designs, constructs, manages, and improves facilities statewide. Boat launching facilities are managed by staff from the Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and municipalities. This page provides general information about site selection as well as detailed descriptions of the sites themselves, many including maps.

Office of Fishing and Boating Access program information

The link below includes information regarding selecting new sites.

More About the FBA Program

Facility descriptions and maps

Click here for FBA Sites in a sortable table. The list can be sorted by facility name, town name, or any of the other column headings (click the column heading) to help you find the site and/or water body you are interested in. The table contains links to maps of many of the sites, pond maps from MassWildlife where available and additional descriptive information. The latter includes the facility type as well as a list of fish species typically fished for from the site.

Events and special use permits

The Office of Fishing and Boating Access is now making the following permits available as pdf documents viewable with Adobe Acrobat Reader. In addition, you can see a list of boat ramps commonly used for fishing tournaments, a list of FBA facilities with the number of available parking spaces, and an updated list of scheduled events.

• 2013 Special Use Permit Application - Winter Events
• 2013 Special Use Permit Application - Summer Events
• Bass Tournament Creel
• Tournament Ramps Managing Authority List
• Facility Parking Limitations Table
• 2013 Scheduled Events
• Zebra Mussel Clean Boat Certification Form

 

Publications

Public Access to the Waters of Massachusetts is a full-color publication that includes 90 individual site maps and descriptions of more than 200 access points to state waterways. The 150-page guide also includes information about sportfishing piers, fishing in fresh and marine waters, boating law, rights of access, and information about boating and fishing programs in the Department of Fish and Game.

How to contact the Office of Fishing and Boating Access:

Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Office of Fishing and Boating Access
1440 Soldier's Field Rd.
Boston, MA 02135

(617) 727-1843