The Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby will feature new prize categories and larger daily winnings this year.

At the 79th annual iteration of the derby, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 19, false albacore will be eligible for daily awards. 

Phil Horton, the derby committee chair, said the organizers wanted to include the shiny fish after hearing feedback from participants.

“[False albacore] are probably the most fun to catch in terms of how hard they will strike a lure and how much they will run,” Mr. Horton said. “They will literally exhaust themselves to death in the fight if you don’t control them on the way in.”

All daily fish from the derby are fileted and distributed to the Island senior centers on a rotating basis. Mr. Horton said the false albacores lost their daily eligibility in 1995 because they’re not very edible, and the centers didn’t have a need for the filets.

This year, the derby committee reconsidered because they now give fish racks to Island lobstermen, who use the false albacore meat as bait. They’ve also partnered with Island Grown Initiative, who use albacore filets to feed people that are food insecure. 

Since false albacore are now eligible for daily prizes, the derby committee has included them in the running for daily mystery prizes and per registration derby bag limit has increased from three to four.

Daily prize cash awards have doubled this year, with $40 for first place, $30 for second, $20 for third and $10 for fourth. 

“We looked at our finances and basically said, ‘we can afford to do this,’” Mr. Horton said. “We had been at the old reward rate for over 20 years and it was time that we boosted it.”

Daily prize cash is funded primarily through registration fees, Mr. Horton said. Last year, there were more than 3,000 participants. 

However, Mr. Horton said registration has declined over the past five years since the derby eliminated striped bass from prize eligibility. 

The decision was made after new regulations limited fishermen to catching only striped bass between 28 and 31 inches long. Mr. Horton said fishermen were legally barred from catching striped bass that were big enough to win prizes.

“There are people who only fish for striped bass so we lost that audience,” Mr. Horton said.

To encourage new participants, the derby is introducing a newly designed “First Fish” pin that will be given to first-time derby contestants after they weigh their first catch.

The derby will also be crossing-over their daily fish rod division and all tackle daily awards. Mr. Horton said this change allows for Fly Rod division fish that qualify by weight for the daily All Tackle award to win both.

“We’re trying to make it more interesting for the fly rod fishermen,” he said.

The derby’s grand prize will once again be a 20-foot boat valued at $90,000. The derby received the boat as a donation from Eastern Boat Works.

Since the derby started in 1946, Mr. Horton said it’s been an annual event that the community looks forward to. 

“The derby brings a buzz to the whole Island,” he said. “It adds a lot of excitement to the Island… It’s an excuse for me to go fishing.”