#DamRemoval Efforts Lead to a Stunning Comeback for #Maine’s #Alewives
Along most of the Atlantic coast, alewives are struggling after decades of damming and #overfishing. But in Maine, the fish is rebounding—and towns’ historic harvests are growing.
By Sydney Cromwell
July 6, 2026
Excerpt:
"[The Alewife or River Herring] lives mostly in the Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to South Carolina, but in early summer the adults migrate as far as 100 miles inland to spawn in ponds and lakes.
"Alewives aren’t considered a game fish, though some people do catch and smoke them. But they are a linchpin for Maine’s river ecosystems—one that basically disappeared from many of those rivers for decades.
"They act as a 'biological conveyor belt' of nutrients between the ocean and inland waters, said Rustin Taylor, the
... show more#DamRemoval Efforts Lead to a Stunning Comeback for #Maine’s #Alewives
Along most of the Atlantic coast, alewives are struggling after decades of damming and #overfishing. But in Maine, the fish is rebounding—and towns’ historic harvests are growing.
By Sydney Cromwell
July 6, 2026
Excerpt:
"[The Alewife or River Herring] lives mostly in the Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to South Carolina, but in early summer the adults migrate as far as 100 miles inland to spawn in ponds and lakes.
"Alewives aren’t considered a game fish, though some people do catch and smoke them. But they are a linchpin for Maine’s river ecosystems—one that basically disappeared from many of those rivers for decades.
"They act as a 'biological conveyor belt' of nutrients between the ocean and inland waters, said Rustin Taylor, the executive director of the Alewife Harvesters of Maine.
"Seals, otters, bald eagles, ospreys, pollock, trout and other carnivores eat alewives. The fish fed generations of Native communities and colonial and industrial American towns. The #Passamaquoddy tribe’s name for the species, #siqonomeq, translates to 'the fish that feeds all.' "
Read more:
insideclimatenews.org/news/060…
#SolarPunkSunday #KeystoneSpecies #TraditionalFoods #Wildlife #WaterIsLife #Fish #RiverEcosystems #Fishing
