Photos of the Week

The Alewife Run - A Mesmerizing Spring Ritual

I’m so grateful that I was able to be present for a few days of the Alewife run in early May. Thinking about it now, and looking at these images, I wish I had been there much, much more. This annual event has become one of my most beloved rituals, taking on an almost spiritual significance in the way it connects me to both Maine, it’s amazing natural and human history, and the world of my youth, spent wondering and fishing along the shores of a lake.

This year I visited Nequasset in Woolwich. The operation here is similar to Damariscotta Mills, which I’ve visited before, but much closer to home for me. It also felt more intimate. There has been an alewife harvest at Nequasset for hundreds of years.

To highlight the historical aspect, and to simplify the images, I chose to render them in black and white.

It was absolutely mesmerizing watching the fish shimmer beneath the water.

Alewives are anadromous, meaning they travel from salt water to fresh water to spawn. What used to be many millions of fish have been greatly reduced due to dam construction on most of Maine’s waterways. That has changed some in recent years, and today more fish are making their historic migration than have in the past 100 years.

Where there are fish, there are birds. Osprey, especially, are the most impressive hunters on display at the run.

Eagles let the osprey do the hard work, they mostly scavenge.

The most dramatic moments come when osprey hit the water with great force and come up with a fish, almost every single time.

The eagles like to chase the successful osprey, make them drop the fish, and then catch the fish in midair in dramatic fashion. I saw this happen, and wish I had captured it.

The harvest operations, the human side of the run, were just as fascinating to me.

Lobstermen use alewives as bait, and some even camp out overnight for a chance to get the limited number of fish that are sold here on the weekends. On the day I visited, at least 12 pickup trucks were lined up to purchase alewives, which are a preferred bait for hardshell lobster.

There is a channel next to the fish ladder that diverts many of the fish into a net to be harvested.

Steve Bodge is the master of ceremonies here. His family has managed this operation for over 60 years.

One of the most amazing parts of the operation here at Nequasset is the smokehouse. Native Americans taught early settlers how to dry and smoke alewives to store them for use in winter months when food was scarce.

It’s an honor system, note the Cumberland Farms coffee cup, and the price this year was $1 per fish. The fish have a great flavor, but lots of bones that have to be spit out. Worth it!

I can’t wait until next year!

I hope you can make it to an alewife harvest in Maine next year. The run typically starts at the beginning of May, peaks around Mother’s Day, and end at the end of the month. You can watch the annual alewife harvest in Woolwich, Vassalboro, Benton, Damariscotta Mills, Orland, and East Machias.

My 2024 photo workshop schedule can be seen HERE.

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