Salt water and sun. Crabbing, clamming and swimming. From Cape Cod to the North Shore, our way of life is tied to the ocean. Our coast still has remnants of tangled forest, grass-covered dunes and coastal creeks teeming with a universe of creatures. Whales, sea turtles and shorebirds travel thousands of miles to feed in our waters. This is where we sail, swim and comb the beaches.

Once, the Massachusetts coastline was crawling with shellfish. One could hardly set foot in the shallows without crushing dinner. Deeper waters held riches of flounder, haddock and cod, sparking a fishing industry that would become one of the busiest in the world.

Our marine lands and waters still provide Bay State residents with food, jobs and protection against storms. They are also essential to the health of the entire North Atlantic—bridging two distinct marine systems and harboring an abundance of life that tests the bounds of imagination.

New Pressures, New Strategies

Humans have relied on the bounty of sea and shore for centuries, but our shores and seas are a frontier of new development and the areas most vulnerable to climate change. The Conservancy has a plan to find a balance that secures the health of Massachusetts’ oceans and our oceanside communities.

• Restoring Coastal Habitats
  Oyster reefs, seagrass beds, salt marshes and estuaries offer habitat to myriad species, protection for our coasts and nutrients and nurseries that support the entire marine food web. But increasing pressure has caused many of these processes to break down. Read about our new partnership to restore oyster reefs in Wellfleet Bay.
   
• Leasing Submerged Lands
  Each coastal state has a unique landscape and seascape and its own way of managing ocean and coastal resources. As Chapters apply versions of land-based conservation tools to their underwater habitats, we have taken a close look at what might work for Massachusetts. Get the results in our new report, Exploring a New Strategy for Marine Protection  (pdf, 1.62MB).
   
• Connecting Land, River and Sea
  Salmon, shad and sturgeon move thousands of miles through our rivers to the ocean. Forests, wetlands and rivers work together to filter pollution before it reaches the sea. Explore the Conservancy’s “whole watershed” approach with a look at freshwater strategies in Massachusetts.

• Achieving a Science-Based Plan for Ocean Management
  From liquefied natural gas terminals to desalinization plants and gas pipelines, the push to develop infrastructure offshore puts escalating pressure on Massachusetts’ waters. Comprehensive legislation would help balance demand while keeping our marine resources healthy. Dive deeper into the Massachusetts Ocean’s Act.
   
• Reaching Beyond Borders
  For the humpback whale that summers in our waters but travels to the Caribbean to breed, or the red knot whose migratory journey depends on habitats along the entire Atlantic coast, Massachusetts is intimately connected to distant places. Read about our work to protect the diverse habitats the humpback whale needs  (pdf, 3.13MB).

One State, Two Ocean Ecosystems

Cape Cod marks the boundary between two distinct marine ecosystems: the Gulf of Maine, which extends north from Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy, and the New England Transitional Sea, which extends south of Cape Cod through Long Island Sound.

Richer in nutrients than almost any other place in Earth's oceans, the Gulf of Maine’s deep, cold waters support groundfish like cod and haddock, deep water corals and unique creatures like basket stars and anemones. Flounder, black sea bass, horseshoe crabs and sea turtles prefer the warmer bays of southeastern New England.

The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts strives to protect both ocean ecosystems in ways that benefit marine life, local communities and coastal economies. Just as ocean species are dynamic and wide-ranging, so are we in our approach.
 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Jerry and Marcy Monkman (Shells); Photo © Karen Lombard/TNC (Salt marshes of Sandy Neck at Cape Cod); Photo © Cheryl Rose (Piping plover (Charadrius melodus), a threatened shorebird, along the beaches of Massachusetts).