The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group hopes to bring a nascent kelp-growing project to Chilmark this winter, with support from the town selectmen and shellfish constable.

At the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, shellfish group hatchery manager Amandine Hall floated the idea of expanding the project from the waters off Oak Bluffs to somewhere in Chilmark — perhaps Menemsha Pond or beyond the jetties in Vineyard Sound.

With funding from the Edey Foundation, the shellfish group has been developing the project for about three years, partnering with Cottage City Oysters off Eastville Beach and establishing a second site farther along the shoreline in Oak Bluffs.

The fast-growing algae could have commercial as well as environmental benefits for the Island, as it removes nitrogen and carbon from the water and could even be converted to biofuel or used as a fertilizer, among other uses. Mrs. Hall said the shellfish group donated a small spool of kelp to Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, which deployed it last year, harvesting 70 pounds and serving it in school cafeterias.

Island kelp is cultivated on lines suspended from buoys, and harvested in the winter and early spring. Massachusetts has yet to establish a commercial seaweed industry, but some believe kelp farming could be more sustainable and profitable than commercial fishing. The frozen product would also keep through the summer.

Sehellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer said he supports expanding the project, although the precise location and methods remained unclear. As one possibility, he suggested using a designated anchorage area in Menemsha Pond, where the lines would not interfere with boat traffic in the waterway.

The selectmen offered discretionary approval for the project, asking that Mr. Scheffer and harbor master Dennis Jason first agree on a location.

“All that I would be concerned about is, out in the sound, whether it’s a hazard to navigation,” selectman Warren Doty said.

Mr. Scheffer reported an abundance of scallops around Chilmark, including some in Nashaquitsa Pond, where the shellfish department is working to restore vital eelgrass beds that disappeared last year. The selectmen approved the shellfish advisory committee’s recommendation that the commercial scalloping season open Nov. 21. The recreational season opened on Saturday.

But with a healthy number of young oysters observed in Tisbury Great Pond, Mr. Scheffer recommended foregoing a commercial oyster season in the pond this year, since the young oysters tend to attach to the adults. “The guys would have to break the seed off,” he said. “It’s just too hard to do it. They’d end up killing a lot of seed.”

The selectmen agreed no commercial season in Tisbury Great Pond, but expect to hear back from Mr. Scheffer about whether to open Squibnocket Pond to oystering this year.

In other business, Cape Light Compact administrator Maggie Downey offered a presentation on plans to modernize the state’s energy grid, as mandated by the state Department of Utilities. A five-year $496-million plan by Eversource Energy would feature a gradual transition away from conventional power plants, toward more renewable and decentralized energy sources. The plan could allow customers to better monitor their energy usage through so-called smart metering, and could decrease the frequency and duration of outages. But Ms. Downey said it would also limit the potential benefits for customers and may not meet all of the state requirements, among other concerns.

Cape Light Compact, the Island energy service provider, is seeking to raise awareness of the plan and to develop official positions based on public comment and information from Eversource. A rolling survey is available at surveymonkey.com/r/gridmodsurvey.

“We want to ask these questions and have the opportunity to give input into something that is really going to impact and shape us and our kids and our children’s children,” Ms. Downey said of the plan.

Also on Tuesday, the selectmen approved a request to hold a benefit concert at the Chilmark Community Center to raise awareness of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would carry oil through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. Musical guests will include Kate Taylor, Earth Tribe Singers, Alex Karalekas and Valerie Sonnenthal. The Wampanoag Tribe’s Black Brook Singers may also make an appearance. Proceeds will benefit activists camping for the winter at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in protest of the pipeline, which has sparked widespread opposition in recent weeks.

More than 300 tribes and first nations have pledged support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as it resists construction of the pipeline in the interest of protecting the Missouri River, which supplies water for the reservation.

“We are trying to do this to represent the Island as a community,” said Carole Vandal, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe who taught for years in Minnesota and appeared before the selectmen Tuesday with Ms. Sonnenthal and Melanie Sroka-Chaunce to seek approval for the concert Nov. 12.

“It’s really about unifying and respect for these tribes,” said Ms. Sroka-Chaunce. “We as a community really want to come together for this major thing that is going on in the center of our nation.”

Selectman Jim Malkin did not object to the goals of the concert, but noted that the community center was intended for Chilmark residents only. Ms. Sonnenthal countered that people from across the Island attend the popular Potluck Jams at the community center in the fall and winter. And selectman Bill Rossi suggested that Ms. Sonnenthal, a Chilmark resident, serve as the event sponsor. The selectmen unanimously approved the event.

A special town meeting is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 5 at the community center. The selectmen said they anticipated about five articles on the warrant.