Committees from Edgartown and Chilmark shuttled up to the state house last week and came back with nearly $300,000 in grant funding from the Seaport Economic Council for coastal resiliency and climate change planning projects on the Island.

Edgartown will receive $240,000 to fund the engineering, design and permitting for a dredging project in Katama Bay, hoping to improve water quality and navigation in the town harbor.

Chilmark will receive $55,000 to fund a multi-phased replacement project for the Menemsha dock, including an inspection of a bulkhead.

Both projects come as the impacts of sea level rise and climate change have taken their toll on the Island’s fragile coasts and harbors, with strong storms causing significant flooding and impacting shellfish harvests in recent years.

Edgartown received a $1 million grant from the Seaport Economic Council earlier this year to fund a large-scale renovation project of Memorial Wharf, which will raise the town dock approximately a foot and a half and refurbish its failing base.

According to a presentation made before the council on Thursday, Sept. 9, the Katama Bay dredging project has a dual focus, looking to increase maritime access at the town boat landing on the western side of the bay, as well as improve water quality for the significant aquaculture beds in the bay’s southern reaches.

The town’s commercial shellfish propagation program has become a $2 million to $3.5 million industry, according to the presentation, with approximately 11,000 bushels harvested annually.

Dredging will also be used for beach nourishment at Norton Point and South Beach, just south of the bay.

Approximately $180,000 will be spent on field data collection and coastal processes analysis; other funds will go to environmental permitting. The grant has a $60,000 municipal match, according to the state.

“[The project] holistically adds value to the blue and green economies of Edgartown and Martha’s Vineyard,” according to the presentation.

The Chilmark project focuses specifically on a multi-phased project to provide long-term resiliency to Menemsha’s commercial fishing dock in the heart of the harbor, which often becomes inundated during high tide. Thursday’s funding will also result in a certified engineering inspection of the Menemsha bulkhead, informing subsequent project planning and design.

Both grants are part of a Baker administration program that will provide $6.7 million to a total of 14 coastal communities across the state through the Seaport Economic Council to improve commercial fishing, public access to maritime resources and dredging.

Other grant communities include Salem, Barnstable and Boston, which received money for dredging, dry dock and pier repairs.