As the harvesting season for bay scallops gets underway, Island fishermen and shellfish wholesalers are readying themselves for their annual gamble in a fishery with a reputation for uncertainty.
On Sunday at 12:01 a.m., anglers will head to moonlit beaches and offshore Island waters — as they have every September since 1946 — when the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby gets underway.
The commercial striped bass fishing season has ended early in Massachusetts, after the state Division of Marine Fisheries projected the annual quota for the fish was reached last week.
An emergency regulation restricting recreational striped bass fishermen to only keep fish between 28 and 31 inches has been extended through October 2024.
The Martha's Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust got a provisional go-ahead to build out new infrastructure at the Menemsha commercial dock this week.
Menemsha Dock in Chilmark, Cuttyhunk Harbor in Gosnold and a plan to dredge Lighthouse Beach in Edgartown are three of 19 projects statewide to receive funding.
The 11th annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament starts this Thursday with a captain's meeting at the Wesley Hotel. Fishing takes place on Friday and Saturday. Bob Jackson, the organizer of the event and the president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, said he is expecting at least 55 boats.
A huge 454-pound blue shark was caught during the tenth annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament held over the weekend. The shark could be the largest blue ever caught, a world record.
The shark was caught by Pete Bergin of Shrewsbury in his boat Quality Time. Mr. Bergin's boat was one of 65 participating in the Boston Big Game Fishing Club's annual event. Competing boats filled the Oak Bluffs waterfront for most of the weekend. On Friday and Saturday a large number of fish were caught, and even more were released.
Devon Metters could have weighed in one of the largest shore-caught false albacore of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish derby’s second day Sunday. He caught a real tuna instead.