The return of alewives to this Bangor-area stream is an epic success story

[jpak]

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/05/23/outdoors/the-alewives-are-running-come-over-to-bradley-to-join-in-the-fun/

BRADLEY, Maine — The old saying about migrating fish holds that during the peak of a run, it’d be possible to walk from stream bank to stream bank on the backs of the fish, and never get your feet wet.

While most of us don’t possess that kind of balance, the scene at Blackman Stream on Tuesday morning made that scenario seem nearly believable: The seasonal run of river herring, or alewives, turned the stream black, and in shallow spots, hundreds of wriggling dorsal fins were halfway out of the water.

On Saturday, families are welcome to celebrate this annual migration during Alewife Day at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley. The event runs from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., and visitors are sure to see plenty of alewives in the 17 rock-and-pool weirs that allow fish to pass around a dam and continue their upstream trips to Chemo, Holbrook and Davis ponds. Admission is $3 for adults and free for children younger than 12.

“It’s going to be a fairly low-key event,” said Sherry Davis, the museum’s executive director. “We’re going to have the gas-powered Lombard log-hauler running, and we’re going to be serving up some of these smoked alewives. We’ll have this really fun maze set up, which we’re using this week with the children’s programs, for kids to run that and pretend they’re an alewife.”

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