Last night 30 deepwater fishermen from around New England expressed their approval at a meeting in Gloucester for a new proposal to open up swordfishing to rod and reel and harpoon fishermen. Gregory Mayhew and his son Todd, both Menemsha fishermen, attended as did Alex Friedman, president of the Martha’s Vineyard/Dukes County Fishermen’s Association.

Twelve-year-old Liam F. McCarthy of Vineyard Haven was honored last Saturday at a fundraising dinner at the Holy Ghost Society in Oak Bluffs. Through the efforts of many, the dinner raised $5,000.

Liam and his family were seeking financial help to cover the cost of a walking aid, a device that will make movement easier, plus a three-wheeled bicycle. Neither purchases are covered by insurance, his mother Kelly McGuiggin said. For her, the evening dinner offered hope.

The brilliant gibbous moon will not be alone tonight when it rises more than an hour after sunset. It appears near the bright planet Saturn. The two celestial objects are in the zodiacal constellation Libra. The moon is two days past full moon and will look brilliant rising in the eastern sky.

Tonight’s gibbous moon appears high in the southeastern sky after sunset. The moon is on the western end of the zodiacal constellation Leo.

Last Sunday afternoon, under wintery skies, there was yet another pilgrimage to Lucy Vincent Beach. For many it was a solemn moment as they stood and looked without saying a word.

Pam Bunker, chairman of the Chilmark beach committee, was there taking stock of how nature had once again changed the landscape of the beach.

“The whole eastern seaboard, from Plum Island all the way down the coast, is eroding . . . . It is a melancholy feeling,” she said.

It was once a symbol of the Island and a principal fish landed on the docks. Swordfish weighing hundreds of pounds were hauled in from Menemsha, Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. They lined the docks and fish markets; their tails nailed to the walls of fish shacks bore testament to the fishery’s success. As some fishermen tell it, swordfish were once so abundant they were seen within miles of the shore, as close as Squibnocket and Dogfish Bar.

But those days have long since disappeared.