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.
Upper pool from the alewives’ point of view. May, 2020
Fish Happenings
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 […]
Big News! The Lower Fish Ladder opens to the public on Tuesday, June 2
Due to changes in state policy, the fish ladder will be open to the public beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2. We are excited to share this year’s great fish run, which will last for at least another week and probably for two more weeks. To take advantage of this awesome opportunity to see Damariscotta Mills […]
And the winner of the Quilt Raffle is…
Christine Ruffley with ticket 253. We had a small crowd of 11 people cheering as Mary Chase drew the ticket.
Draw for Quilt Raffle
The Draw for the Quilt Raffle is at 4pm tomorrow (Labor day) in front of the Fish House. Spectators please wear masks. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and waited so patiently! Today is the last day for online ticket sales.
Alewife Quilt Raffle
The Draw will be held on Labor Day September 7. Tickets are still available. Alternatively, you can pick up tickets for $5 each or 6 for $25 from David Brydges — call or text 207 832 1790.
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!
