In the winter of 1973 Joe Alves, production director for Jaws, began his quest to find the perfect setting for Amity Island.

From Montauk to Marblehead, Martha’s Vineyard was the place that met Mr. Alves’s criteria.

“Edgartown was so pristine with the white picket fences and white buildings,” he said. “It was a wonderful place to be terrified by a shark. Then when I got to Menemsha it was a great fishing village with all the little shacks. It was absolutely perfect.”

Fishermen who pursue a variety of important fish on Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine face drastic cuts in catch limits next year because of dwindling groundfish stocks. Cod and yellowtail flounder are in such a dire state that fisheries managers advising the New England Fishery Management Council are calling for catch limit cuts of 70 per cent or higher beginning next May.

Chilmark Pond has been ordered closed to swimming until further notice following a routine water sample taken July 31 that revealed high levels of bacteria.

According to the state Bureau of Environmental Health, the water sample revealed 399 colony forming units (CFU) per 100 milliliters of water of enterococci bacteria. A subsequent sample taken on August 2 showed 2,014 CFU per 100 milliliters of water. The sample taken on August 2 coincided with rainfall, which is known to skew data.

For one artist, the term all-Island art is literal. Amid the paintings, pastels and photographs, the seaweed collages by Kathy Poehler hung on the wire fence at the Tabernacle yesterday for the 54th All-Island Art Show.

Author Phyllis Meras and illustrator Robert Schwartz will be autographing copies of In Every Season: Memories of Martha’s Vineyard, on Thursday, August 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m at the Island Alpaca Company, 1 Head of the Pond Road in Oak Bluffs. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free.

Ag Fair Book Release Party

The Agricultural Fair may be a week away, but those looking to get their historical groove going early are in luck. Tomorrow, August 8, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. is the book release and signing party for Bountiful - A History of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society and the Livestock Show and Fair by Susan Klein and photographer Alan Brigish.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but at 5 p.m. the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets under way.

An advanced screening of the films was arranged. In a world with few certainties, the kid critic is the critic to trust. This week’s reviewer is Will LaFarge

The Story Tree (Dir. Stephanie Sim / Canada / 2006 / 3 min.)

Gay Head Gallery

This weekend the Gay Head Gallery is hosting a reception on Sunday, Aug. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. for its latest show entitled Endangered Lands and Water: The Intrinsic Value of Wild Nature. The gallery seeks to promote conservation and environmental education through its artists, and this show is no different. The exhibit is a benefit for the Vineyard Conservation Society and the Moshup Trail Project — an ongoing conservation effort to protect globally rare habitat.

Multicultural Art Show

The Harlem Fine Art Show (HFAS) will present a multicultural art show at Island Inn in Oak Bluffs on August 9 through 12. This is the first time the show has traveled to Martha’s Vineyard from its usual home in New York city. It has also teamed up with Pathway to Your Success, an Island non-profit dedicated to helping parents and their children plan future career choices.

Jawsfest Cruise

Jawsfest should not be limited to land — that’s for wimps. Better to get out on the water; after all that’s where the sharks live. On Sunday, August 12, starting at 9:30 a.m. Seastreak’s 141-foot catamaran will be heading out to sea to view scenes from the movie including East Chop, Harthaven, State Beach and Big Bridge, Cow Bay, Edgartown and Cape Pogue.