By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Rick Karney, director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, returned last week from an international conference on invasive sea squirts, where he and one of his staff were both speakers and participants.
There has been plenty of discussion on the Vineyard about invasive foreign plants in the Island landscape; offshore, the ocean bottom and the water column are also in a state of change. New plants and animals are taking up residence in coastal waters that may have a long-term impact.
Important changes came last week in the effort to bring cod back to New England waters.
The New England Fishery Management Council at its meeting in Plymouth established a protective zone for juvenile cod in the Great South Channel.
While it will take up to three years to come up with protective rules for that area, the decision sets aside a portion of open ocean where it is known that undersized fish need to be protected.
Capt. Wayne Iacono and a number of other Menemsha lobstermen are having a better autumn this year because of the help of a local draggerman, Capt. Craig Coutinho of the fishing boat Viking.
“If it wasn’t for Craig we’d all be in trouble,” Captain Iacono said.
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Thirty years ago, the invention of the electronic fish finder helped fishermen out in their boats find fish. Today’s great device, the computer hooked up to the Internet, helps the rest of us find fishermen who know where to find the fish.
The culture of the Internet has helped charter fishing captains just as it has helped a lot of other businesses.
The bluefish are in. For at least one fisherman, the arrival was like an old-fashioned Wasque bluefish blitz.
On Monday, Ed Amaral drove to Chappaquiddick to get his line wet and perhaps catch the first bluefish of the season. While he didn't get the first one, he certainly got more than he expected.
Fishermen, Regulators Brace for Spring Herring Moratorium
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Alewives, one of the great harbingers of spring, have returned to Vineyard waters.
But there is a crucial difference this year: the state of Massachusetts has barred people from catching or possessing these anadramous fish, which return from the ocean to spawn in freshwater ponds.