WE SPAWN MILLIONS: SHELLFISH CULTURE ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD, Richard Karney, Shellfish Biologist & Director Emeritus, Martha’s Vineyard

The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc, is a non-profit consortium of the shellfish departments of the six towns on Martha’s Vineyard. Since 1976 we have conducted a community-based program to protect and enhance the Island’s important commercial and recreational shellfisheries including the good water quality they require. Foremost in our local shellfish management effort is the production of seed shellfish at land-based shellfish hatchery and nursery facilities. Our successful methodology to annually produce millions of quahog, bay scallop and oyster seed is discussed. Because good water quality and habitat are crucial to healthy shellfish populations, we are actively engaged in projects to address pollution.  Notable projects include The Blue Pages, a booklet to educate the public, and a recent investigation of the harvest of Phragmites as a means to limit nitrogen overloads to the ponds. We seek to improve shellfish habitat through eel grass restoration and a shell recycling program. In addition, we spearheaded an effort to develop private shellfish farms on the Island. Presently there are over 30. More information about our program is posted on our Facebook page and our website <www.mvshellfishgroup.org>.    

 Rick Karney, a pioneer in the field of shellfish aquaculture, will be speaking at the Block island Maritime Institute (BIMI) on Tuesday, August 23rd, at 7 p.m. His Tuesday Talk is entitled, “We spawn millions – shellfish culture on Martha’s Vineyard.”  Come listen, learn, and hear stories from a lifelong shellfish advocate, with lessons for us on Block Island. Rick is the Director Emeritus of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. (MVSG), and served as its Shellfish Biologist and Director for 41 years (1976 – 2017). The MVSG is a nonprofit consortium of the shellfish departments of six towns on Martha’s Vineyard. During his tenure at the MV Shellfish Group, Mr. Karney carried out a successful community-based resource development program for the commercially important shellfish species on Martha’s Vineyard.  Management efforts concentrated on the development of hatchery and field aquaculture methods for shellfish and the operation of the Nation’s first public solar shellfish hatchery. In the mid 1990’s with a $500,000 National Marine Fisheries Service grant, Mr. Karney conducted a shellfish aquaculture retraining program for fishermen displaced by fishing closures on Georges Bank. In 2001, Mr. Karney was awarded the Gulf of Maine Visionary Award by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment in part for demonstrating “that shellfish aquaculture can be an environmentally and economically sustainable activity for coastal communities.” Mr. Karney is a past Vice President of the National Shellfisheries Association. He has been co-chair of the Southeast Massachusetts Aquaculture Center since 2001.