(B.S., Biological Sciences, Rutgers University) is Director Emeritus of and a biologist at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. Before that, he worked for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. For over three decades Mr. Karney has carried out a successful community-based resource development program for the commercially important shellfish species on Martha’s Vineyard. Management efforts have concentrated on the development of hatchery and field aquaculture methods for shellfish and the operation of the Nation’s first public solar shellfish hatchery. In the mid 1990’s, with a $500,000 National Marine Fisheries Service grant, Mr. Karney conducted a shellfish aquaculture retraining program for fishermen displaced by fishing closures on Georges Bank. He is currently helping these fishermen to market their cultured oysters. In 2001, Mr. Karney was awarded the Gulf of Maine Visionary Award by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment in part for demonstrating “that shellfish aquaculture can be an environmentally and economically sustainable activity for coastal communities.” Mr. Karney is a past Vice President of the National Shellfisheries Association. He has been co-chair of the Southeast Massachusetts Aquaculture Center since 2001.
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