2004

Shellfish Group Struggles with Shortfall

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

The Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group is in the midst of a
financial crisis. Director Rick Karney is troubled; it means greater
hardship in an already difficult business of raising juvenile shellfish.

The Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group will be offering treats from Island waters at the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust's Taste of the Vineyard gourmet stroll this Thursday night. They'll have a booth featuring their flavorful Island-cultured oysters. This year, strollers will be able to compare oysters cultured in Menemsha Pond and oysters raised in Katama Bay.

2003

Following the die off of juvenile shellfish at the Martha's
Vineyard Shellfish Group in recent weeks, there will be a summit of the
minds next Wednesday at the Tisbury Town Hall. Shellfish constables,
biologists, members of the Lagoon Pond Association and the Tisbury
Waterways Inc. will meet at noon to talk about the next step in
protecting the water quality in the pond.

The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said yesterday that nearly four million healthy juvenile shellfish under culture at his Lagoon Pond hatchery have died in the last three weeks because of extremely poor water quality in the pond.

The deteriorating water quality has not affected mature shellfish and there is no danger to humans who eat shellfish from the pond.

2002

Shellfish May Survive Edgartown Oil Spill; Emergency Seen as Serious
Wake-up Call

By JULIA WELLS

The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said
there may be good news for a crop of about a million baby oysters that
were threatened by an oil spill in the Edgartown harbor early this week.

"I don't want to say that we are out of the woods
entirely, but the oysters may survive," said shellfish group
director Rick Karney on Wednesday this week.

Oil Spill in Edgartown Harbor Kills Million Baby Oysters and Fouls
Waters

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

An oil spill of unknown origin sullied the pristine water of the
outer Edgartown harbor yesterday, ruining an entire crop of juvenile
shellfish at a hatchery owned by the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish
Group and posing a possible threat to the rich bay scallop beds off the
north shore of Chappaquiddick.

Pages