An ambitious grant proposal that may have benefitted the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) was recently turned down in the early phases of an application process that involved research communities in the United States and China.

With a goal of cultivating one million oysters a year, Chilmark officials are expanding available aquaculture grants for Menemsha Pond.

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.

Oak Bluffs has reached an agreement with an Eastville homeowner who had sued the town over an aquaculture venture near his home.

The Vineyard’s first offshore blue mussel farm has a new owner with a long-term vision for the local fishing industry. Stanley Larsen, owner of Menemsha Fish Market, recently took over a shellfish grant for the continued operation of the aquaculture farm.

An Oak Bluffs resident is challenging the award of an aquaculture license at Eastville Beach. Jacob H. Ludwig 3rd is asking the superior court to overturn a decision to grant Dan and Greg Martino an aquaculture license.

Four new oyster farms could be coming soon to Menemsha Pond, which already hosts six aquaculture ventures.

The 4-1 vote clears the way for brothers Greg and Dan Martino to begin a pioneering aquaculture venture. There were complaints from abutters and concerns about navigation, but the town strongly backed the project as a boost to the shellfishery.

Edgartown’s bustling aquaculture industry is on hold this week, with Katama Bay oyster farms temporarily closed because of reported cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp). The state Department of Public Health and Division of Marine Fisheries announced the closure, which is expected to last one week, on Wednesday.

Residents along Beach Road near Eastville Beach were informed at the end of January of a proposal by the Martino brothers to establish a for-profit commercial oyster farm in the open waters off Eastville Beach. Residents of Beach Road were given less than a month’s notice of this proposal and little time to research and provide comment at the March selectman’s meeting, a time of year when seasonal residents are not on-Island.