For five weeks every autumn, fishermen stage a takeover on Martha’s Vineyard.

It’s a welcome invasion and pervades nearly every aspect of life, even if you are a landlubber.

Scenic beaches and lighthouses are populated by men, women and children wearing rubber boots and waders, rods in hand.

Coffee shops and other morning breakfast places are full of fishermen and fishing talk: who caught what on a full moon tide last night, who are the latest grand leaders, where the albies are biting this week.

The fishing enthusiasts come in many varieties.

There are the surf casters who stand at the solitary edge of the shoreline, casting deep into swirling rips and currents where the chomper bluefish dwell.

There are the flyfishermen, whose graceful craft is also art as they unspool light line tied with intricate flies into the watery places inhabited by the fickle false albacore.

There are the boat fishermen who venture far offshore in pursuit of the biggest striped bass.

Now in its 72nd year, the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is an Island institution in its own right. It is a contest, to be sure, with cash prizes and the final grand giveaway of a boat and a car. And it has long provided a welcome boost to the fall shoulder season economy on the Island. That economy has grown robust in recent years with the growth of travel tourism and a wedding business that is fairly booming.

But among all the fall events here, the derby stands out as singular, authentic and in harmony with Island values. The derby promotes the healthy pursuit of sport fishing, including for youth, and protection of the clean environment that is the Island’s stock in trade. A volunteer-run fresh fish distribution program that is operates out of the weigh station in Edgartown benefits senior citizens and others on the Island. Money collected through registration fees goes back into the community in the form of generous scholarships for graduating seniors at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School each spring.

The 2017 derby comes to an end Saturday. An awards ceremony will be held Sunday at Farm Neck Golf Club at 1 p.m., and is open to all.

Good luck to all the anglers and thanks for another great derby — may the best fish win.