It is months away from the start of both the recreational and commercial fishing season, yet already there is change ahead. Fisheries managers, looking at the health of fish stocks, are making a regulatory forecast and some predictions about the availability of fish for the year ahead.

Striped bass, one of the most precious resources in our waters, will likely be more scarce this summer, and anglers who love to catch fluke will likely be able to take more home.

Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway, a well-known boatbuilding operation on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven, has a new partner. Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin have been running the boatyard since 1980 and together have built 50 wooden boats and a far-ranging reputation in preserving the heritage of wooden boat building.

Now, Brad Abbott, who has worked day to day in the shop for nearly two years, has joined with the two in running the business.

The Norton Point Beach breach may close as early as this year, an event that would bring to an end a dramatic, five-year phenomenon that has eaten away large chunks of the southeastern corner of Chappaquiddick, according to a top regional expert in coastal erosion.

There are 71 of them and they come from all parts of the Island to help. They are the volunteers who help run the Island Food Pantry.

Frustrated by policies that increase overfishing, a San Francisco-based environmental group filed suit in federal court last week against the National Marine Fisheries Service, charging that its most recent rule changes are allowing additional harvesting of bluefin tuna by expanding the fishing season.