Projects funded by MassBays grant programs

Between 2010 and  2021, MassBays awarded $600,000 for 40 projects to conduct work that identified causes of coastal habitat degradation; developed management plans and recommendations to address coastal water pollution; designed conceptual improvements to stormwater infrastructure, and built local capacity to protect coastal resources including salt marsh, shellfish beds and anadromous fish runs. The projects  resulted in recommendations to address priority management issues in the MassBays planning area. Use the interactive map below to learn more about these projects and their interesting findings. 

Click on the projects list below (projects are listed by region). Please note that the 2020-2021 projects have just started and more information will be available as this projects progress. If you have any questions please contact us here.

Upper North Shore Region

• Investigating the causes and vectors of Phragmites colonization in the Great Marsh (University of New Hampshire, 2011) ($39,922)
• Great Marsh ACEC Resource Inventory (Town of Ipswich, 2011) ($16,284)
• Town of Salisbury stormwater bylaw (Town of Salisbury, 2011) ($40,000)
• Creating the basis for successful restoration: an eelgrass habitat suitability model (University of New Hampshire, 2012) ($25,000)
• Building a resilient eelgrass population in the Great Marsh (University of New Hampshire, 2003) ($20,000); (Town of Essex, 2014) ($20,000)
• Restoring high marsh in the Parker River Estuary (The Trustees of Reservations, 2018) ($15,740)
• Great Marsh Barriers Mitigation (Ipswich River Watershed Association, 2018) ($18,000)

• Bridging Data and Education Gaps in the Merrimack River (Merrimack River Watershed Council, 2020) ($22,532)

Lower North Shore Region

• Danvers sustainable stormwater funding study (Town of Danvers, 2012) ($20,000)
• Determining the nature and causes of turbidity events in Salem Harbor (MA) through estuarine water quality monitoring (Salem State University, 2012) ($22,992)
• Toward an environmental solution for Salem Harbor Water Quality (Salem State University, 2018) ($27,715)
• North Shore Oyster Restoration (Massachusetts Oyster Project, 2018) ($15,545)
• Solutions to Protect Eelgrass: Cooperative Guidance on Docks and Recreational Boating (Salem Sound Coastwatch, 2020) ($15,000)

Metro Boston Region

• Smelt spawning habitat assessment (Saugus River Watershed Council, 2012) ($10,000)
• Neponset River Estuary Area of Critical Environmental Concern water quality action planning (Neponset River Watershed Association, 2013) ($7,500)
• Fore River Watershed Restoration (Town of Braintree, 2016) ($16,000)
• Mystic River Shoreline Restoration Project (Mystic River Watershed Association, 2018) ($33,000)

• Belle Isle Marsh Reservation Environmental Inventory (Mystic River Watershed Association, 2020) ($30,000)

South Shore Region

• Stony Brook and Tussock Brook marsh restoration plan (Jones River Watershed Association, 2011) ($12,510)
• Prioritizing stormwater improvements for the Jones River and Kingston Bay (Town of Kingston, 2011) ($14,795)
• South River greenway and walking trail plan (Wildlands Trust, 2012) ($6,749)
• Shading impacts of small docks and piers on salt marsh vegetation in Massachusetts estuaries (MA Division of Marine Fisheries, 2013) ($8,120)
• Anadromous species survey and water quality monitoring of the Gulf River Estuary (Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research, 2013) ($10,600)
• Integrating new technologies into a cost effective community based method for monitoring salt marshes in a changing climate. (Jones River Watershed Association, 2014) ($19,480)
• River Herring resource use in natural and restored Massachusetts estuaries. (MIT Sea Grant College Program, 2016) ($28,500)

Cape Cod Region

• Oyster reef restoration and monitoring (Mass Audubon, 2011) ($19,529)
• River herring warden network (Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, 2011 and 2012) ($15,000 and $7,441)
• Tracking the presence and persistence of pharmaceuticals in Cape Cod Bay (Center for Coastal Studies, 2012) ($22,119)
• Hydrodynamic modeling - Herring River restoration project, Wellfleet (Friends of Herring River, Wellfleet/Truro, Inc., 2013) ($20,000)
• Assessment of multi-decadal coastal change: Beach Point in Truro to Jeremy Point, Wellfleet (Center for Coastal Studies, 2013) ($18,323)
• Development of conceptual design options for fish passage restoration, Upper Herring River watershed (Friends of Herring River, Wellfleet/Truro, Inc., 2014) ($20,000)
• Restoring Cape Cod estuaries with a Restoration Coordination Center (Association to Preserve Cape Cod, 2016) ($15,000)
• Evaluating land use impacts on contaminants of emerging concern in Cape Cod Bay estuaries. (Center for Coastal Studies, 2016) ($31,986)
• Mayo Creek Hydrodynamic Modeling (Town of Wellfleet, 2016) ($8,460)

• Monitoring Alkalinity and pH in Cape Cod Bay to Assess Impacts of Coastal Acidification (Center for Coastal Studies, 2020) ($28,083)

Projects across the MassBays regions

• Building the foundation for shellfish restoration in Massachusetts (The Nature Conservancy, 2011) ($40,000)
• Identifying and prioritizing restoration opportunities for coastal aquatic habitats in the Mass Bays Region (MA Division of Marine Fisheries, 2012) ($20,000)
• Environmental impacts of docks and piers on salt marsh vegetation across Massachusetts estuaries (MA Division of Marine Fisheries, 2014) ($15,500)