Before ocean farmers worked the wind and tides to grow perfectly shaped oysters in bags and cages, they were a wild food. For 100,000 years, oysters have been part of an equitable food system. They were plentiful, easy to wrangle, and packed with superior protein and minerals. Oyster consumption lead to intellect, and the development of language, art and culture in early humans. Most importantly, they were abundant and readily available to everyone. 

Today, oysters may be the superstars of the shellfish stage, but all shellfish (clams, scallops, mussels, etc.) keep our ponds and bodies well balanced and poised for success. The public aquaculture pursued by each Vineyard town stocks millions of juvenile shellfish into the ponds each year. They start as seed from the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group and grow up to be bivalve filtration machines, ecosystem engineers and potential wild food.

When the Vineyard began changing fast during the building boom of the 1970’s, a few forward-thinkers designed the shellfish group to make sure there would always be wild shellfish in these waters. Surrounded by ocean, reliant on a ferry service and each other, shellfish harvesting was critical to the survival of their tight-knit and isolated community. Nearly 50 years later, the ferry fleet is larger, though not always more reliable, and the isolation is just as real. Shellfish harvesting is still critical to our collective identity and food security.

Twelve months a year, wild shellfish are accessible to anyone with a town-issued permit or a Tribal Member ID card. For veterans and seniors, permits are available at a low or no cost. The shelfish group and the town shellfish departments are dedicated to sustaining native shellfish stocks, and also the harvest and consumption of them. 

We want more people to brave the wind and tides to gather the Island’s marine cornucopia. If you need help getting started, we are all here to suggest harvesting techniques, the best equipment and the locations where your hunt will be the most successful. The food that you find in waist-deep water, whether peacefully solo or surrounded by family, will nourish your body and soul better than anything that comes over on the ferry. 

Shellfish-based traditions are still the glue that keeps us connected and fed during times of division, disaster and conflict. They are here when the ferries don’t run. They nourished our ancestors and shaped our Vineyard ways.

Please join me, our staff, board and hundreds of your neighbors by investing in the mission of The Shellfish Group. Your support will help to ensure that Islanders and visitors have access to fresh, healthy and wild food (at the tip of their net or rake) under the surface of nearly every pond. 

Wishing you a bountiful harvest.

Emma Green-Beach is a shellfish biologist and executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group.