Who We Are

Amandine volumizing seed

Emma tearing appart bags of remote set

Tom Berry growing cultured oysters in Katama bay

The Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. (MVSG) is a consortium of the Shellfish Departments of the six towns on Martha's Vineyard. The Group is incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

For over thirty years the Group's program of community resource management has sought to preserve and expand the Island's traditional shellfisheries. Key to this effort has been the application of innovative aquaculture technology and a continuing vigilance to improve and maintain the good surface water quality crucial to a viable shellfish industry.

The MVSG is governed by a twelve member executive board consisting of the shellfish constable and selectman's appointees from each of the six member towns. The program is under the direction of a Shellfish Biologist/Director who oversees a year round staff of two assistants and a summer staff that may increase up to six during the hatchery production season. Volunteers are also sometimes involved in the operation.

For the past 20 years, this non-profit consortium has pursued a community resource development program for the protection and enhancement of the Island's economically important shellfish species i.e., quahogs, bay scallops, and oysters. The program has concentrated on the development and application of innovative aquaculture techniques for the enhancement of public shellfish stocks.

Funding from a technical assistance grant from the Economic Development Administration of the Department of Commerce launched the project in the late 1970's and a Federal grant from the Office of Coastal Zone Management under the Coastal Energy Impact Program resulted in the construction of the production facility, the nation's first public solar shellfish hatchery, in the early 1980's.

In 1995 with $185,000 from the Fishing Industry Grants (FIG) program and $50,000 from National Marine Fisheries Service via the Nantucket Research and Education Foundation, sixteen fishermen were given extensive training in practical shellfish aquaculture techniques. The ambitious twelve month training program incorporated lectures, field trips, aquaculture literature, hands on training in a shellfish hatchery and at an onshore shellfish nursery and field culture sites. Responding to the needs of the trainees, the training program addressed areas such as shellfish biology, water quality, shellfish diseases, business planning, marketing, cooperative ventures, and the procedures and regulations governing the acquisition of private aquaculture leases. The MVSG worked with local town governments to develop aquaculture policies allowing the fishermen trainees to secure private aquaculture lease sites.

Under the second round of FIG funding in 1996, MVSG was awarded $311,138 to provide financial and technical startup assistance for fifteen fishermen who had begun private aquaculture ventures. The attached front page news clipping from the January 9, 1998 Vineyard Gazette provides a good overview of the success of the FIG projects. In 1998, the MVSG leveraged state funds from the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture to continue to support the growing local aquaculture industry. With a $4,000 grant, the MVSG has worked with the growers to promote the sale of the first crop of their cultured oysters. The project included the development of a logo and introducing the cultured oysters to Vineyard restaurants, seafood markets, and the general public at "oyster tastings".


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	Who We Are Amandine volumizing seed Emma tearing appart bags of remote set Tom Berry growing cultured oysters in Katama bay The Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. (MVSG) is a consortium of the Shellfish Departments of the six towns on Martha's Vineyard. The Group is incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. For over thirty years the Group's program of community resource management has sought to preserve and expand the Island's traditional shellfisheries. Key to this effort has been the application of innovative aquaculture technology and a continuing vigilance to improve and maintain the good surface water quality crucial to a viable shellfish industry. The MVSG is governed by a twelve member executive board consisting of the shellfish constable and selectman's appointees from each of the six member towns. The program is under the direction of a Shellfish Biologist/Director who oversees a year round staff of two assistants and a summer staff that may increase up to six during the hatchery production season. Volunteers are also sometimes involved in the operation. For the past 20 years, this non-profit consortium has pursued a community resource development program for the protection and enhancement of the Island's economically important shellfish species i.e., quahogs, bay scallops, and oysters. The program has concentrated on the development and application of innovative aquaculture techniques for the enhancement of public shellfish stocks. Funding from a technical assistance grant from the Economic Development Administration of the Department of Commerce launched the project in the late 1970's and a Federal grant from the Office of Coastal Zone Management under the Coastal Energy Impact Program resulted in the construction of the production facility, the nation's first public solar shellfish hatchery, in the early 1980's. In 1995 with $185,000 from the Fishing Industry Grants (FIG) program and $50,000 from National Marine Fisheries Service via the Nantucket Research and Education Foundation, sixteen fishermen were given extensive training in practical shellfish aquaculture techniques. The ambitious twelve month training program incorporated lectures, field trips, aquaculture literature, hands on training in a shellfish hatchery and at an onshore shellfish nursery and field culture sites. Responding to the needs of the trainees, the training program addressed areas such as shellfish biology, water quality, shellfish diseases, business planning, marketing, cooperative ventures, and the procedures and regulations governing the acquisition of private aquaculture leases. The MVSG worked with local town governments to develop aquaculture policies allowing the fishermen trainees to secure private aquaculture lease sites. Under the second round of FIG funding in 1996, MVSG was awarded $311,138 to provide financial and technical startup assistance for fifteen fishermen who had begun private aquaculture ventures. The attached front page news clipping from the January 9, 1998 Vineyard Gazette provides a good overview of the success of the FIG projects. In 1998, the MVSG leveraged state funds from the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture to continue to support the growing local aquaculture industry. With a $4,000 grant, the MVSG has worked with the growers to promote the sale of the first crop of their cultured oysters. The project included the development of a logo and introducing the cultured oysters to Vineyard restaurants, seafood markets, and the general public at "oyster tastings".