Courtesy of the NSA
A commercial shellfishing work boat moves through shallow Nantucket waters. Shellfishing and aquaculture remain central to the island’s marine economy and are closely tied to the Nantucket Shellfish Association’s conservation and educational efforts
Guardian of the Harbor
More than just the engine behind OysterFest, a former commercial fishermen’s alliance has transformed into one of the island’s most active marine science, youth education, and water-quality advocacy networks
Don Costanzo • May 28, 2026
The Nantucket Shellfish Association began in 2003 as a small nonprofit formed by island shellfishermen, harbor users, and residents concerned about the long-term condition of Nantucket’s waters and fisheries. More than two decades later, the organization has evolved into one of the island’s most visible marine and environmental nonprofits, combining shellfish advocacy, harbor restoration, fundraising events, youth education, and community programming under a broad mission centered on protecting Nantucket Harbor and the surrounding marine ecosystem.
Today, many island residents know the organization primarily through its public events, including OysterFest, which returns June 14 at Cisco Brewers. But OysterFest represents only one piece of a much larger operation that now includes multiple annual fundraisers, educational initiatives, harbor cleanup efforts, scholarships, marine grants, and environmental partnerships tied to water quality and shellfish sustainability.
The Nantucket Shellfish Association (NSA) was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit “to preserve and protect Nantucket’s harbors, water quality, and shellfish resources.” The group was initially formed by five founding members, including long-time steward Dan Drake and local fisherman Bruce Cowan, and has since grown to more than 740 members. Over time, the organization expanded from a relatively small shellfishing-focused group into a broader nonprofit involved in both cultural and environmental aspects of island marine life.
The Changing Face of Leadership
This organizational growth has been accompanied by a clear shift in the visible leadership driving the association. In its earlier years, foundational island stewards and long-time commercial shellfishermen anchored the committee’s waterfront presence. Today, the public faces and leadership of the NSA reflect a modern, multi-disciplinary team capable of managing and expanding environmental and event infrastructure.
The policy, finances, and governance of the organization are directed by a Board of Directors led by Board President Tanya Forman, Vice President Carl Sjolund, and Treasurer Sofia Flores-Boynton. They are supported by an active working board that includes Andy Lowell, Becky Becker, Cheryl Emery, Dylan Wallace, Nicholas Ouellette, Peter Morrison, Ronald Shepherd, and Zach Dusseau.
To maintain its scientific and ecological integrity, the NSA also draws on a specialized Board of Advisors composed of prominent island conservationists, scientists, and resource managers, including Cormac Collier, Emily Goldstein Murphy, Emily Molden, Jennifer Karberg, Tara Riley, and Vincent Murphy. Together, this combined leadership structure connects multi-generational commercial shellfishermen directly to local researchers and municipal stakeholders.
The NSA’s growth mirrors larger changes occurring across Nantucket itself. Shellfishing remains one of the island’s defining traditional industries, particularly bay scalloping, which has long held both economic and cultural significance on Nantucket. At the same time, concerns over nitrogen pollution, harbor health, eelgrass decline, stormwater runoff, dredging, and coastal development have increasingly pushed marine organizations into broader environmental conversations.
The NSA now operates in the middle of those overlapping issues. While the group does not present itself as a political organization in a partisan sense, its work frequently intersects with public policy discussions involving water quality, harbor management, shellfish habitats, and marine conservation.
Courtesy of the NSA
Left: Volunteers, oyster growers, and attendees gather during OysterFest, the Nantucket Shellfish Association’s annual summer fundraiser celebrating the island’s oyster industry and supporting harbor conservation, marine education, and shellfish sustainability initiatives. Right: Carl Sjolund, vice president of the NSA, shucks clams during an NSA event. A second-generation commercial fisherman and longtime bay scalloper, Sjolund is widely respected for his work preserving Nantucket’s working waterfront traditions and advocating for marine conservation on the island
The Annual Events Circuit
One of the clearest examples of the organization’s public visibility is its year-round calendar of fundraising events. OysterFest may perhaps be the most recognizable, but it’s only one of several large annual events organized by the association.
In April, the organization hosts Scallopalooza, a celebration tied to the close of scallop season. In June comes OysterFest, which focuses heavily on Nantucket’s oyster farming industry and draws large crowds to Cisco Brewers. The fall calendar includes the Scallopers Ball, which the organization describes as its longest-running annual fundraiser, followed later in the year by Clam Jam, a chowder-focused community event, and Harbor Day.
Together, those events have helped transform the organization into a highly visible part of Nantucket’s seasonal nonprofit and fundraising landscape. The events also reflect how shellfish culture itself has become increasingly intertwined with tourism, hospitality, and island branding.
Aquaculture and the Fundraising Engine
Oyster aquaculture in particular has grown substantially on Nantucket over the last two decades. Oyster farming is now one of the island’s most prominent marine industries, with several oyster farms operating in Nantucket waters. OysterFest openly celebrates that industry, bringing together oyster growers, restaurants, sponsors, and attendees in what has become both a fundraiser and a major summer social event.
According to reporting from the Nantucket Current, more than 700 people attended last year’s OysterFest. The event featured oysters harvested from local farms, food vendors, music, and fundraising activities tied to the Shellfish Association’s broader programming.
The financial side of the organization has also expanded significantly. Public nonprofit filings show the NSA reported more than $419,000 in annual revenue in its recent Form 990 filing, along with roughly $691,000 in net assets. The organization’s revenue comes from a combination of donations, memberships, sponsorships, and fundraising events. That raises an important question that is central to understanding the organization today: where does the money go?
Courtesy of the NSA
Left: Juvenile bay scallops from the Nantucket Natural Resources Department’s Daffy hatchery spawn grow inside protective spat bags in Nantucket Harbor before being released into the wild. The restoration effort is part of a long-running strategy to help sustain Nantucket’s scallop population and support the island’s historic shellfishing industry. Right: A Nantucket bay scalloper unloads gear and shellfish along the waterfront during scallop season
Deploying the Capital: Debris Cleanups and Education
According to the association’s public materials, funding supports a wide range of programs and initiatives. Those include youth marine education, scholarships, shellfish restoration work, harbor cleanup projects, grants, and community outreach programs tied to marine ecology and water quality.
One of the its more ambitious recent efforts has been its harbor debris cleanup initiative. The NSA says it removed more than 3,500 pounds of hazardous debris from Nantucket Harbor, including fuel tanks, batteries, engine blocks, piping, and other submerged marine waste, and has stated that it is now seeking additional funding to continue underwater mapping and debris-removal efforts in future phases of the project.
The NSA has also increased its focus on youth education. In 2024, it launched a program known as Harbor to Future, designed to expose Nantucket youth to marine ecology, shellfishing, environmental science, and maritime career pathways. According to the organization, the program reached more than 100 young participants during its initial phase and received financial support from several local foundations and charitable organizations, including the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation, the CFN Remain Fund, and the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation.
Partnerships and Environmental Policy
That educational component reflects another major shift in its evolution. While the group originally formed around protecting shellfish resources and supporting harbor culture, it increasingly presents itself as an organization focused on long-term stewardship and public awareness surrounding Nantucket’s marine environment.
Its partnerships reinforce that positioning. The Nantucket Land & Water Council has publicly referenced collaborations involving the Shellfish Association, the Maria Mitchell Association, and broader clean-water initiatives tied to nitrogen awareness and harbor health. In 2022, this culminated in the formation of the Clean Water Coalition, an alliance targeting the root causes of nutrient pollution. Those partnerships place the Shellfish Association within a growing network of island environmental organizations working on interconnected issues involving water quality, conservation, and marine ecosystems.
At the same time, it still maintains strong ties to Nantucket’s working waterfront and shellfishing traditions. That balance between environmental stewardship and maritime heritage may be one reason the group has been able to attract support across different segments of the island community.
Membership Structure and Institutional Scale
Membership is open to the public through various annual contribution levels listed on its website. The association includes commercial fishermen, recreational shellfishermen, oyster growers, seasonal residents, donors, local business sponsors, and residents interested in marine conservation and harbor issues. It also operates through a board structure supported by volunteers, sponsors, and event partnerships.
NSA’s increasingly prominent public role also reflects broader changes in how environmental nonprofits operate on Nantucket. Over the past two decades, many island nonprofits have evolved beyond narrowly defined missions into larger institutions that combine fundraising, education, advocacy, public programming, and community engagement. In that sense, the association now occupies a hybrid role. It is simultaneously a marine nonprofit, a cultural organization, a fundraising entity, an educational group, and a public-facing environmental organization.
The Stakes for Nantucket’s Future
Its evolution has occurred during a period when Nantucket’s marine environment has faced mounting pressure from multiple directions. Nitrogen loading from septic systems and development continues to affect harbor and pond ecosystems. Eelgrass decline has raised concerns about habitat loss and water quality. Climate pressures, warming waters, storm intensity, dredging projects, and increased coastal use have all added additional layers of complexity to harbor management and marine conservation.
For shellfishermen, those environmental changes carry direct economic implications. Nantucket’s bay scallop fishery remains one of the island’s most culturally important fisheries, but shellfish populations are highly sensitive to water quality, habitat conditions, and ecological shifts. Oyster aquaculture has expanded partly because oysters are more adaptable within changing coastal economies and can coexist alongside tourism-driven marine industries. The Shellfish Association increasingly operates at the intersection of all those trends.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the NSA is controversial. Unlike some environmental advocacy groups, it generally presents itself through education, restoration projects, fundraising events, and community partnerships rather than overt political campaigning. Still, many of the issues connected to its mission eventually lead into policy discussions involving development, wastewater infrastructure, harbor regulation, conservation priorities, and public spending.
As OysterFest approaches once again, the organization’s visibility will likely continue to grow. What began in 2003 as a small nonprofit focused on shellfish resources has become a larger institution tied to Nantucket’s environmental identity, marine economy, and harbor culture. Its future will likely depend on how successfully it continues balancing those overlapping roles. Maintaining credibility with commercial shellfishermen, environmental advocates, donors, seasonal attendees, and the broader public may become increasingly important as Nantucket’s coastal pressures intensify.
For now, however, the NSA has positioned itself as one of the island’s central marine organizations, using shellfish culture as both a fundraising platform and a framework for broader conversations about harbor health, environmental stewardship, and the future of Nantucket’s waters.