A blue mussel farm in the waters off Chilmark will soon double as a two-year kelp-growing experiment. The project aims to demonstrate the benefit of growing multiple crops in a single area.

The closure covering the Cape and Islands has been lifted, the state Division of Marine Fisheries announced Monday. A toxic shellfish bloom has dissipated.

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.

The Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard became an outdoor dining room as Islanders enjoyed fresh seafood and a conversation with author Paul Greenberg.

Following a trend of looking for innovative sustainable ways to make a living from the ocean, the Island’s newest crop has been quietly planted in the water off Eastville Beach.

A Sengekontacket oyster project has been such a success that the shellfish department will ask selectmen to open the pond to commercial oystering.

Katama Bay oyster farms will remain closed for another week following additional confirmed cases of Vibrio illness tied to the area, a state Department of Marine Fisheries official said Tuesday afternoon. Chris Schillaci told oyster farmers that handling is not the problem.

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.