Mark Alan Lovewell
Worried Vineyard lobstermen are breathing a little easier this week following a meeting held last week with fisheries regulators in Rhode Island, where a proposed five-year moratorium on lobster fishing was placed on the shelf — at least for now.
Lifeguards made a series of rescues this week at Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark, where rip currents have created unsafe swimming conditions in spots, Chilmark beach superintendent Martina Mastromonaco said yesterday. On Monday, two women were rescued by lifeguards after currents pulled them out to sea.
This is the weekend of the 24th annual Monster Shark Tournament and as many as 120 recreational fishing boats are expected in Oak Bluffs harbor. They’ll ply the waters south and east of the Vineyard in pursuit of the biggest shark, but only a few fish will be brought ashore.
This event has drawn much attention in recent years, including from animal rights activists, who complain about wasteful killing of sharks in recent years.
Memories of Walter Cronkite — as both a sailor on the Vineyard waterfront and as the nation’s favorite television journalist — were shared Sunday night at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown. Titled A Celebration of the Life of Walter Cronkite, it was an evening of stories, pictures, tributes of Mr. Cronkite and a look toward the leaders of tomorrow.
The spirit of the human voice and its capacity to bring people together with melody and rhythmic movement is a big part of Jim Thomas and his spirituals choir. They perform tomorrow night at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. The program is called Songs from the Field: the Mystery of Spirituals, and it includes songs and stories going back to the Civil War era.
As in the past, the 28-member choir will have the audience swaying and clapping along. The choir sings slave songs that carry a message and tell a story crossing the generations.
Vineyard restaurants and fish markets are now serving and selling fresh, locally caught striped bass. The commercial season officially opened on Tuesday in Massachusetts.
Commercial anglers have a season that will probably run well into August before the quota is taken. They are limited to fish that are a minimum of 34 inches, and there is a daily limit of five fish on Sundays, and 30 fish on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The Massachusetts quota for commercial fishing of striped bass is 1,128,577 pounds.