2021 Alewife Trail
2021 them— striped bass, bluefish, tuna, cod, haddock, halibut, Maine’s annual spring alewife migration is inspiring. American eel, rainbow trout, brown trout, landlocked We created a map to help you find locations to salmon, smallmouth bass, pickerel, pike, white and yellow witness this natural wonder. perch, seabirds, bald eagles, osprey, great blue heron, We recommend using a mapping program like Google cormorants, seals, whales, otter, mink, fox, raccoon, Maps, with the local information included here. In many fisher, and turtles. instances you can see a fish ladder or dam in Google A single female alewife can lay 60,000-100,000 eggs, Maps, satellite view. but as few as three may survive to adulthood. Adults Alewives are anadromous (sea-run) fish that spend the make their way back to the ocean after spawning, and majority of their lives at sea but return to freshwater to many return the following spring to spawn again. spawn. Alewives (also known as river herring) are guided Commercial harvesting rights are held by towns where by their sense of smell to migrate upstream from the there are sustainable runs of alewives. The harvest ocean to rivers, streams, ponds and lakes to spawn. Runs can generate substantial income for a town, and it is generally occur between May 15 to June 15 depending on often used for the maintenance of fishways and dams. water temps and river flows. Harvested alewives are Pilgrims were taught by Native Americans to put a fish sold for lobster bait. To in the ground as fertilizer when planting corn. Those fish get a permit the town Celebrate spring were very likely alewives.
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