MassBays' mission -- to empower 50 coastal communities to protect, restore, and enhance their coastal habitats -- centers on providing technical support and scientific information relevant to local conditions. MassBays has provided technical and financial support for numerous efforts at the community level as well as across multiple embayments to monitor water quality and habitat condition, restore habitat, and conduct research to identify and address deteriorating conditions. New and ongoing efforts include:
Monitoring and Mapping
- Supporting community-based monitoring (funded by a EPA Exchange Network Grants)
- Increasing agency confidence in eelgrass maps used for project review and ocean planning (funded by a NOAA Project of Special Merit Grant)
- Updating a Tide Gate Inventory and Assessment for Wetlands Restoration and Hazard Mitigation (previously funded by a NOAA Project of Special Merit Grant)
- Conducting Water Quality and Benthic Assessment in Salem Sound, MA (funded by an EPA Multipurpose Grant)
- Assessing eelgrass condition in Duxbury-Kingston-Plymouth Bays (in partnership with Mass Division of Marine Fisheries and North and South Rivers Watershed Association)
- Managing the Statewide Massachusetts Coastal Condition Assessment (2020-2023) (funded by MassDEP)