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Welcome to historic Damariscotta Mills, Maine – home to one of Maine’s oldest and most productive alewife fisheries. The stone fish ladder that is the centerpiece of Damariscotta Mills was constructed in 1807 by the Towns of Nobleboro and Newcastle because, for nearly a century, mills blocked access for fish to the freshwater falls. In 2007, after two centuries of use, the fish ladder was in poor condition so a restoration project was initiated by a strong community group working with the Towns of Nobleboro and Newcastle and the Nobleboro Historical Society.

 

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Fish Facts

Restoration of the fish ladder has had a signficant positive impact on the health of the Damariscotta River alewife stocks. Alewives are an important part of the food chain and they contribute to the health of the marine environment and to the lakes and streams where the fish spawn. In the spring, a few harvested alewives are smoked as “people food” but most serve as a source of fresh bait for local lobstermen. The Towns of Newcastle and Nobleboro have harvested alewives since the 1700s and, by balancing conservation and economic goals, they have carefully tended the Damariscotta River alewife stocks. Today, all funds received for harvested alewives are spent to maintain and restore the fish ladder and harvesting area.

Upper pool from the alewives’ point of view. May, 2020

Fish Happenings

Don’t Forget to Vote!

In March, the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation will give more than $140,000 to 44 local nonprofit organizations in Maine and New Hampshire. Vote for the Fish Ladder. to cast your vote to support the fish ladder restoration, click bangor.com/cmm. Select “Other” and enter Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration

More about the Quilt Raffle

We sold 589 of 700 tickets at 6 for $25, raising $2390 for the Fish Ladder after subtracting our costs. This does not include $540 for printing an inventory of unsold quilt squares which we hope to sell in Alewife Festivals to come, perhaps with another quilt raffle!  The raffle came out far better than […]

The numbers are in….and they’re great!

This year we passed 1,069,488 alewives into Damariscotta Lake to spawn. It’s just great to get more than one million—it’s always our goal since the restoration. It was an interesting year—the fish came in late and stayed late but they did their job.

The 2020 alewife run is nearly over

The fish have slowed down considerably—very few new schools of alewives are entering the fish ladder and any fish that are coming in are small. Small fish, often 3 year olds, are typical of the end of the run. These young fish, not ready to spawn for another year, seem to be practicing for the […]

Harvesting is over for the year

The last harvest of the year was on Tuesday morning, June 9. Very few fish are coming in now and run-backs, fish that have spawned and are heading back to sea, are abundant—especially at the end of the day.Thanks for a great year. See you next year!

Check out this special webinar that includes the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder!

Not to be missed – on Thursday, June 11 at noon, the Natural Resource Council of Maine will host a webinar called Maine’s Sea-Run Fish – Stories of Success. Deb Wilson will present slides showing the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration and Nick Bennett of NRCM will look at other river herring runs in Maine, […]




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