The decline of the Vineyard's fisheries has little to do with a lack of fish and more to do with lack of access, Island fishermen say. A new regulatory system tends to favor larger companies that can afford to purchase quota from other fishermen and reinvest in equipment.

Last weekend, dozens of surfcasters at Wasque Point could hardly believe their luck. The water churned with bluefish as fishermen reeled in catch after catch. “Some of the best fishing days I’ve ever had,” said Wayne Smith, an avid surfcaster.

Tim Broderick took a leap of faith when he sold his 55-foot fishing dragger Four Kids this summer, switching to oyster farming in Menemsha Pond with his father Stephen. But the Brodericks say the change is already paying off.

On that Thursday although I knew that the bonito were off Cape Pogue, the north wind in the early morning made it too rough for my boat, a 14-foot aluminum skiff. So I decided to hit the surf.

On Tuesday morning Capt. David (Tubby) Medeiros, 50, and his son Cory, 14, head out early in their boat, Billie H., to haul pots of black sea bass.

It was on the Vineyard that Paul Greenberg first encountered the beauty of a functioning ecosystem, where fishing was not merely a symbolic act.

An Island-based group that includes fishermen, a documentary filmmaker and a world-renowned oceanographer are leading an unprecedented effort to create three marine protected areas in waters south of the Vineyard.

A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has found that cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine are at an all-time low.

Many striped bass fishermen are reporting a poor catch early in the season. The commercial fishery opened June 23. New rules are in place this year with lower daily bag limits and reduced fishing days.

You’ve heard those fish stories about the one that got away. Jason Hershey of Edgartown has a tale about the many things he did just to let one go. The story begins at Lobsterville Beach and ends at Sengekontacket, with a few twists along the way.