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

River herring have made a strong and early return to Squibnocket Pond this year, reflecting a hopeful trend statewide. Dredging efforts over the winter in the Gay Head Herring Creek are being partly credited for the rebound.

A winter-long dredging project in the Aquinnah Herring Creek is on pause after a crew hired by the Wampanoag tribe came up short on a deadline.

Dredging has begun at Herring Creek, the shallow run that connects Menemsha and Squibnocket Ponds, marking the final phase of a five-year project.

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

Since installing the Island’s first underwater herring cam, scientists have had a fish’s-eye view of herring, otters, cormorants and other species making their way through a historic herring run in Aquinnah.