MORNING SENTINEL • May 20, 2022
Alewives have begun their yearly migration from the ocean up Maine’s rivers to lakes and ponds to spawn. For decades their migration was blocked by a series of dams, but in recent years those barriers have been cleared or scaled back, bringing alewives back to central Maine, and they’re returning in droves. In 2018, the fishway at the Benton Falls dam counted a record-breaking 5.7 million alewives passing through. An event this week in Vassalboro marked a significant milestone in the return of the silver fish to the region’s waterways. Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined with others to mark the return of alewives to China Lake for the first time in more than 230 years.