By Colleen Cronin — The sound of thousands of mussels moving on conveyor belts and clanking through sorting machines almost drowned out Greg Silkes as he tried to explain how the shellfish get from the ocean, through the processing plant, to plates around North America.

By Chris Burrell — …Lynn residents are not the only people of color struggling to access Massachusetts' beaches. In some of the most racially diverse and low-income urban communities along the coast, including Lynn, pollution caused by inferior wastewater infrastructure can force local beaches to close to swimmers. And beaches in many other areas simply aren't open to the public, which critics link to lingering effects of overtly racist housing practices in coastal communities.

By Frank Carini — … “They have a guard posted to be sure no one walks across the walkway to the beach,” he wrote. “Next to their beach entrance is a public right of way that is blocked by a fence. … It is on town property designated as a road on older town plats.”

By Josh Bickford — … a few months ago the owners of 85 Nayatt Road hired a security guard, installed alarms, and made it abundantly clear that their yard and the seawall were off-limits.

That decision has irritated neighbors, angered fishermen, and recently spurred an official cease and desist order from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). That order requires the property owners to allow public access along the riprap retaining wall.

By Liz Bateson —

By Alex Nunes — In Narragansett, coastal property owners along several popular rights of way to the shore are encroaching on designated public roads, effectively limiting parking and public access to the waterfront.

By Francis Wilkinson — A video of a North Carolina beach house being dismembered by a voracious ocean was a viral hit this spring. But it won’t be long before the novelty wears off.

By Brian Amaral — The money will help make growing oysters and other shellfish more effective and accessible to would-be farmers.

By Alex Nunes — A New York man was arrested on Friday afternoon for defying a city rule that prohibits people from swimming at Rockaway Beach while lifeguards are off duty, before later accusing police of brutally handcuffing and dragging him through the sand.

By Hadley Barndollar — New Englanders often associate flooding with storms, and rightfully so. But imagine sunny days with impassable roads, bubbling storm drains and basements-turned-swimming pools?

By Dave Monti — NOAA is asking the recreational fishing community for its guidance as it prepares to revise the 2015 National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy for the period of Aug. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022.

By Brian Amaral — All six candidates agreed climate change is the most pressing environmental issue in the state.

By Rob Smith — The long-running quarrel between a private company and Coventry, R.I., residents over the water levels in Johnson’s Pond is going to court.

Newport’s Friends of the Waterfront are calling on the city to investigate whether The Mooring restaurant’s recently approved plans for its parking lot encroach on public access to Newport Harbor.

By Brian Amaral — The neighborhood near the shoreline where the town added parking -- and infuriated some residents -- is likely not the only place where adjacent property owners have encroached onto the town’s rights-of-way

By Bill Seymour — A House of Representatives bill putting it 10 feet above the high tide mark won approval earlier this year, following a study commission’s recommendation. The state Senate leadership, however, is throwing cold water right now…

Across the county, 75 coastal rights-of-way are identified by the Coastal Resource Management Council that offer access to water.

By Phillip Marcelo (AP) — Seaside communities in New England are providing free beach access to Native Americans as the summer season kicks off this Memorial Day weekend.

Op Ed By Nathan Vinhaitero and Janet Freedman — … if the “shoreline” changes with each breaking wave, how do we draw a line in the sand for public access? Here’s what the science says on a very complex issue…

By Antonia Noori Farzan — For years, if not decades, "RISD Beach" was one of Rhode Island's worst-kept secrets… Since 2020, visitors have been greeted by a locked gate, and RISD says it's decided to permanently restrict parking to faculty, students and staff.