State Grants to Improve Boating, Fishing Access in Two Cape Towns

HARWICH – The towns of Harwich and Yarmouth will join a list of others in the state to benefit from funding approved by the Baker administration recently, aimed at improving fishing and boating access.

Over $1.9 million will be given to towns across the state by The Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Fishing and Boating Access.

About $120,000 of that money will go to a project in Yarmouth which will restore an old fishing pier off South Street.

Meanwhile, $370,000 will go to Harwich to reconstruct a parking lot and bulkhead for improved boat access at Allen Harbor.

Brewster State Representative Timothy Whelan said the money will keep an important aspect of the Cape alive for both tourists and locals.

“When I lived off Cape, coming here to me meant getting my fishing pole,” he said. “Through this grant, we’re going to able to provide a better venue for people to get out there and try their hand at some of the angling Cape Cod is famous for.”

Appropriations for these projects come from several sources, including state general funds, bond appropriations, revenue from the sale of recreational salt water fishing permits and federal reimbursements by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Whelan said that the families of both Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton own property on Cape Cod.

The office of Fishing and Boating Access will oversee the projects, which are typically completed by private contractors.