Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
When you stand on the road bridge looking down at the fish house and adjacent stream and notice a black ribbon of alewives streaming below you, you know the run is going well. The fish are streaming up past the fish house and choosing between the fish ladder entrance on the right and the harvesting […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
The alewives are running well, just in time for a Mother’s Day visit. And, the sun is shining, the Osprey are diving for fish, eagles are everywhere….and the ever present gulls are dining on alewives in the gauntlet before they are safely under the netting and en route to the top of the fish ladder. […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
Harvesting of alewives will begin Monday, May 10 at the usual hours—starting at 5am and again at 4pm. The harvesters will stay each time until all orders are filled or until the fish run out. The harvest takes place Monday through Friday. For further information, call Mark at 380-7996.
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings, Fish Happenings Priority
After a week ‘s break, another school of alewives entered the fish ladder yesterday. Alewives have been flipping in Great Salt Bay in the evenings for a week so it seems likely that the run has begun in earnest. The sky is busy with birds— Osprey diving to catch fish and eagles among them. It’s […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
Yes, the Damariscotta Mills fish ladder is open to the public this year. But please observe the CDC guidelines — wear a mask and practice social distancing!
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
There’s nothing like a cold and rainy spell, especially at the beginning of the alewife run, to stop it for awhile. No new alewives have entered the fish ladder for several days. Still, the birds are here waiting so if you want to see Osprey and eagles, the time is now. We expect to see […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority, General
The alewives are here–at least they came in strong for the past two days but this morning the entrance and lower pools are empty. So it often goes in the early days of the run. Can you visit this year and, because of Covid, what are the rules? The fish ladder is open to the […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Priority
A huge school of alewives showed up in the fish ladder this morning, April 25. It was truly an April surprise because it’s really early for their arrival in Damariscotta Mills! We’re sure glad to welcome them—but we’ll see if more come in behind them right away or if this is an unusually enterprising group. […]
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Archive
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.
Deborah Wilson Fish Happenings Archive
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 […]
