WOOLWICH — The return of alewives to Nequasset Lake in Woolwich signals the start of the annual Nequasset Alewife Count.  Volunteers — adults and children — are needed from May through early June to count the fish that successfully make it over the fish ladder. No prior experience is necessary.    

Sign up for the count at www.kennebecestuary.org/fish-counting.  Each fish counter signs up for a 2-hour block and counts fish for two 10-minute periods in that block.  Counting is broken into blocks between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., every day of the week for the month when the fish are climbing the ladder to go into the lake.   

Although seeing alewives fight the current to get over the ladder is the main event, volunteers have also had the chance to see eagles, herons, ospreys, mink, bass, and loons drawn to the ladder by the lure of an alewife meal.  A visit to the fish ladder also brings the chance to purchase some smoked alewives for 75 cents apiece.  

Alewives are an important part of the food chain in the Gulf of Maine, where they are eaten by  fish such as cod, salmon and striped bass. Birds of prey, eagles and osprey, depend on the alewife migration. Alewives are a valued bait fish for Maine’s Lobster Industry. They are harvested and sold by the bushel at the Nequasset Ladder.  

Fish counting is important because it helps to evaluate if there are enough fish entering the lake to sustain a healthy alewife run and harvest in the future. Counting also helps to assess if the new fish ladder, constructed in 2014, is working as well as it possibly can to enable fish to enter Nequasset Lake.  

If you have any questions about the Nequasset alewife count, contact Ruth Indrick at the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust at rindrick@kennebecestuary.org or (207) 442-8400.