2016

In January after over 40 years with the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, I will be stepping down as its director.

Rick Karney, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, announced that he will shift to part-time status beginning Jan. 1.

The Vineyard Gazette will donate $9,000 to the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, the result of a successful subscription promotion drive that called attention to the plight of the Island’s coastal ponds.

2015

The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group on Friday accepted a $135,693 federal grant that will allow it to continue studying the invasive wetland grass phragmites, which it believes could play a role in reducing the amount of nitrogen in coastal ponds.

With Island ponds suffering from the effects of development, the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group is looking at an old foe in a new light. The shellfish group has been studying the invasive wetland grass phragmites as a possible means for removing nitrogen from coastal ponds.

On a brisk late April morning, Rick Karney stands at a large sink filled with warm water and 24 Pyrex glass meatloaf dishes filled with filtered salt water and quahaugs. As executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Rick is at the leading edge of ongoing work to keep the Island’s abundant shellfish population healthy and productive.

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