Mark Alan Lovewell
The Vineyard’s first offshore farm-raised blue mussels will be distributed among Island fish markets and a few restaurants this weekend. The shellfish are being grown as part of a federally and locally-funded offshore aquaculture experiment to bring farm-raised blue mussels to market on the Island.
A fleet of more than 14 fishing boats, mostly from New Bedford, staged a protest in the waters off Vineyard Haven yesterday afternoon to make a statement about fishery restrictions while President Obama is visiting the Vineyard.
The commercial striped bass season ended last Monday and Alec Gale of West Tisbury said it was the worst season he has seen in the six years he has been hauling fish to the mainland for the local anglers. “It was a slow season, and it wasn’t because of overfishing,” Mr. Gale said. “I think it was a lack of bait and the warm water temperature.”
The Dukes County Deputy Sheriff’s all-star team had the lead for a short time, in the annual celebrity softball classic on Saturday afternoon in Veteran’s Memorial Park. But it was fleeting, and in the end they lost 20 to 23 before a scattering of fans.
Bob Ogden pitched for the sheriff’s team.
Bay scallops have spawned with a vengeance this summer in Cape Pogue Pond. Once ranked among the most productive ponds for scallop landings in the state, Cape Pogue is teeming with juvenile bay scallops, many about the size of a dime.
It takes 18 months for a bay scallop to reach harvestable size, which means if these juvenile scallops survive the coming winter, predation and other environmental factors, the fall of 2011 will be a banner year for scalloping.
Light rain hardly dampened the spirits of those attending the Grand Illumination in the Oak Bluffs Camp Ground on Wednesday night. The gingerbread cottagers were perfectly protected on covered porches that glowed and twinkled with light from strings of paper lanterns. The air was misty and magical.
Musicians assembled for a night of music on the stage of the Tabernacle didn’t miss a note; beneath the canopy of the historic pavilion you could hardly tell it was raining outside.