Volunteers are needed to help count alewives on the Nequasset Brook in Woolwich this spring as the fish make their annual upriver migration.

Bath-based environmental nonprofit Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT) is once again organizing the annual counting of alewives during the migration, which Program Director Alicia Heyburn expects will start some time in April.

“Come and witness one of the world's greatest migrations,” Heyburn often tells volunteers. Alewives are anadromous (they live in salt water but migrate to fresh water to spawn).

Counting helps determine the overall health of the fishery and shows the importance of ensuring safe passage for the fish. The Bath Water District, which owns the dam at Nequasset Brook off the George Wright Road, sought the help of the land trust last year to restore the fish ladder, a project that is estimated to cost $350,000.

The Nequasset Fish Ladder Restoration project, a combined effort of the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, the town of Woolwich and the Bath Water District, has received two grants totaling almost $40,000 so far, Heyburn said.

The funds have come from the Maine Coastal Program for planning and public outreach initiatives and from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Trout Unlimited program, to help fund engineering costs associated with the fish ladder restoration.

Additional grant applications are under review, said Heyburn, and the water district has pledged significant financial support for the restoration.

The organization launched the first all-volunteer alewives count at Nequasset Brook Dam last spring, an effort Heyburn said brought 75 volunteers to the riverside. Some volunteers participated in the count more than 15 times.

According to Heyburn, one Wiscasset volunteer wrote, “Got onto the dam; saw no fish until a lovely osprey dropped from a perch and snatched one from the little pool just beyond the dam. It really is a lovely spot and I'll be back again to see the eagles.”

Heyburn encourages others to participate in the alewives count, to see the eagles and other wildlife and to witness one of the world's great migrations in this little brook.

Adult alewives, which are classified as “river herring,” run into Nequasset Lake from late April to early June to lay their eggs. They then swim back to ocean waters after spawning, followed by hundreds of thousands of juvenile alewives in late summer.

Many of these juvenile alewives are a bountiful food source for other species and they also provide a protective barrier for larger migrating fish.
Last year, approximately 28,000 alewives passed over the fish ladder and swam into Nequasset Lake, according to Heyburn.

“It was a good year for the harvesters,” she said. Harvesters gather the alewives during their run, to either smoke and sell for people to eat or to sell to lobster fishermen for bait.

Heyburn said the lake could support 400,000 of these fish, and restoration of the fish ladder is expected to drastically improve their survival.

To help with the counting process, University of Southern Maine researchers are going to be installing video equipment at the dam. They will be able to record all of the fish that make their way up the ladder. Heyburn said information from the videos and volunteer fish counts help the Department of Marine Resources manage the fishery and make sure it is sustainable.

Volunteers are asked to count fish in two-hour time slots. Counts are taken during two, 10-minute periods within each time slot. Training and instructions are provided. For more information and to sign up for the alewives migration count at Nequasset Brook, visit: www.kennebecestuary.org/. Interested parties can also call the land trust at 207-442-8400.