In the end, it was a 12.48-pound false albacore hooked in the shallows off Memorial Wharf in Edgartown, and a 10.13-pound bonito snagged in 60-foot seas off Noman's Land that proved to be the grandest catches of all as the 59th Annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby came to a close on Sunday.

With two days to go before the close of the 59th Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, tournament officials are already calling this year's event one of the most successful in the history of the competition.

Sitting on Squid Row behind the Texaco station in Menemsha is a pretty good place to be if you want to learn something about fishing.

Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs shellfishermen saw a banner start to the bay scalloping season, and they share their reason why: Lagoon Pond.

Derek Cimeno, shellfish constable for Tisbury, is watching shellfishermen surrounded in bay scallops. "Six hundred bushels of bay scallops were taken in the first two days by family shellfishermen," Mr. Cimeno said.

In these waters there is not a more celebrated fish than the coastal striped bass. Beginning Sunday, anglers in the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby will begin their pursuit of bass, bluefish, Atlantic bonito and false albacore. They will fish along the Island's shoreline and in a variety of boats offshore.

Top scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and fish conservation advocates are reporting a significant increase in the numbers of swordfish swimming in the North Atlantic. Although waters around the Vineyard have yet to see any recovery, the numbers of juvenile fish have improved significantly.