With the water still cold, John Hoy thinks a lot more alewives are coming.

On Tuesday, a group of town officials and biologists gathered at Lagoon Pond to install an underwater camera to monitor the pond’s herring population, which for many years has seen a long decline.

As part of a long-term grassroots effort, federal regulators recently passed legislation to protect dwindling Atlantic herring stocks.

The New England Fishery Management Council voted last week to limit both the scope and size of the commercial herring catch for the next three years.

Despite strict conservation measures, river herring are in deep trouble all along the Massachusetts coast including on the Vineyard.

James Pond was the place to be on Tuesday, as fishermen, town officials and others pulled on waders to help clear a channel for herring.

With support from officials, a group of residents will get out their shovels and widen a channel between James Pond and Vineyard Sound.

Longstanding efforts to widen a historic herring run and improve circulation in James Pond are gaining momentum. The 50-acre pond is tucked along the north shore of West Tisbury.

The ocean may still be as blue as it was in January, but there is a new fragrance that goes with a warming ocean. Is it too soon to think of a bluefish blitz at Wasque?

The New England Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to limit the number of river herring and shad incidently caught by trawlers in federal waters. The cap is the latest in a series of state and federal measures underway to protect the species of fish, whose populations are at historic lows.