It’s the season of run-backs

June 3  The 2023 upstream alewife run is slowly coming to an end. At the same time, alewives that have spawned in Damariscotta Lake are heading back downstream—either by way of the Middle Stream or the fish ladder. This morning fish harvester Mark Becker pulled the screens above the dippers, a sure sign that there are now more run-backs (alewives heading out) than new fish coming in.
Soon it will be time for the first juvenile alewives to head out! The full season of alewife action begins in late April when the first alewives head into the fish ladder and doesn’t end until late November, when the last juveniles head down the fish ladder en route to the Damariscotta River Estuary to grow a bit more before heading out into the Gulf of Maine to mature.