"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."
"For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration.
On a mid-May weekend, Benton held its annual Alewife Festival on the riverbank. With the tunes of a local steel drum band in the background, families made fish-themed crafts, sampled smoked alewives and watched the migration in progress. Below Benton Falls Dam, fishermen hauled alewives into their boats one full net at a time.
Looking at this scene, it’s hard to believe that 35 years ago, fewer than 800 alewives were making this trip upriver. Last year, they numbered 9 million.
The story of Maine’s alewives is a conservation success decades in the making—and unmatched on the rest of the Atlantic coast."
Sydney Cromwell reports for Inside Climate News July 6, 2026.
