The state of Maryland has released the annual young of the year index for striped bass, and while the number is better than last year, it is still well below the 60-year average.

The index measures how well striped bass spawn each year in the Chesapeake Bay. Numbers were released on Friday by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Edgartown poet laureate Steve Ewing pays tribute to Rick Vanderhoop, who died Oct. 14 at his home in Aquinnah at the age of 60.

Fish tales long and tall, speculation about who will win the truck, reflections on a tough contest for fishing this year. And then a bell rang and the 68th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby came to an end Saturday night. The awards ceremony is today at 1 p.m. at Farm Neck Golf Club.

Offered By Tea Lane Associates
One of a kind Squibnocket Ridge property on the south shore of Chilmark - walk to private association beaches or enjoy the miles of association roads and trails through hundreds of acres of conservation land.

Edgartown police are searching for a car involved in a hit and run accident on Tuesday.

Once carved into tiny lots and peddled as a promotion for a 19th century tonic, the 100-acre tract known as the Medicine Lots has been placed in permanent conservation thanks to a purchase completed last month by TNC.

As the 68th Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby enters its final days, the bonitos and false albacores have arrived in full force.

All three of the top boat bonitos were caught in the past week, with Bob Clay’s 11.49-pound fish leading the division. Several large albies have also made their way to headquarters. Sam Bell currently stands in first place in the boat-caught albie division with a 13.24-pound catch.

It’s 5 a.m., pitch black outside on a cool, clear October Friday morning. Tony H. Rezendes Jr. is cruising through the woods, first by truck on a track that barely qualifies as a road, then by foot on a rough path, to one of his favorite fishing spots.

It was the first chilly day of fall and West Tisbury middle schoolers had their hands stuffed into their pockets as they waited outside for the school day to begin. “Can we go into the gym?” one ventured to Donna Lowell-Bettencourt, the new principal who seemed like she’d always been the principal. “It’s cold.”

The history of Seven Gates Farm goes back to 1887, and for generations a parade of farmers, shareholders and conservationists have done just about all they could to keep the land and buildings of this enclave looking, working and feeling largely unchanged.