Linda Despres, the chief scientist aboard the Albatross IV, has a
haunting memory of visiting Georges Bank as a 23-year-old scientist.

"I have this picture in my mind of Georges Bank at night and
seeing the lights of over 50 ships going back and forth across the
horizon," she says.

The old wooden sailboat up on blocks inside the shed at the
Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in Edgartown doesn't
look like much.

The white lapstrake boat, less than 20 feet in length, has not been
in the water since it was brought to the society in December 1936 from
Menemsha Creek. The paint has come off in many places. There is little
chance she will ever float again.

The question of how cod stocks fell so low in the waters off New
England is almost as perplexing as the question of how to bring about
recovery.

The favorite reason - too much fishing pressure - is
followed by other explanations, including changes in ocean temperature
and degradation of the environment. Perhaps it is a combination of these
things.

Pinpointing the cause or causes of plummeting cod stocks is key to
their rejuvenation.

If you need to talk to Steve Morris this weekend, you probably
won't find him working behind the counter at his store,
Dick's Bait and Tackle, in Oak Bluffs.

If you are looking to chew the fat with Patrick Jenkinson at
Up-Island Automotive in West Tisbury, you are also probably going to be
out of luck.

And if your water heater breaks and you need Steve Amaral to fix it,
you better call another plumber.

For generations, the arrival of the herring at coastal ponds has
been the Island's harbinger of spring. Now, major initiatives are
under way across the Island to enhance waterways for the returning
alewife.

This week, work began and is almost complete on the construction of
a fish ladder at the head of Lake Tashmoo.

There is a proposal before federal and state fisheries managers that
will make it a crime to possess scup next summer. If the regulation is
adopted, youngsters all along the Atlantic seaboard won't be
allowed to keep their catch.

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.