688 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



SebastLook, a branch of the Kennebec, to Newport, 100 miles from the sea, in great numbers, 

 and on another branch, the Sandy River, tradition says that they bred in Temple Pond, about 

 120 miles from the sea. It is not probable that their migrations were more extensive than this in 

 any part of the State, except on the east branch of the Penobscot, where tradition says they 

 reached a point nearly 200 miles from the sea. 



The main body of the alewives enter the rivers late in May ; some rivers not until June. 

 They move almost exclusively by daylight and especially in bright sunny weather. An unusual 

 flow of water deters them from entering a stream. They are very courageous in the passage of 

 falls, venturing into very small channels that promise to lead them past obstructions, and often 

 forcing their way up inclined planes where the depth of water is not enough to cover their bodies. 

 After spawning, the old fish soon return to sea, and the young follow them between July and 

 September, when from 2 to 4 inches in length. The time that they require to attain maturity is 

 estimated at three or four years. They do not appear to ascend the rivers more than once in a 

 lifetime for any other purpose than to spawn. 



The alewives frequenting the same breeding place are remarkably uniform in size and appear- 

 ance, but between those of different streams there are remarkable differences, mainly in the matter 

 of size. Among the largest are those of the Kennebec, of which three hundred and fifty will fill a 

 barrel, while of the Damariscotta alewives a barrel holds four hundred and twenty five, aud of the 

 Brooksville alewives seven hundred and fifty. The latter are the smallest known, but are very 

 good fish. 



There is another species (Clupea (sstivalis) that is sometimes confounded with the alewife, 

 though nearly all fishermen recognize it as distinct. It enters the mouths of the rivers several 

 weeks later than the true alewife, does not appear to breed in fresh water, is of slightly different 

 shape, smaller, of finer quality, but on account of excessive fatness is cured with difficulty aud 

 generally treated as refuse, to be employed as bait or as a fertilizer for the soil. 



The ovaries of a Maine alewife contain about 165,000 eggs. With this high degree of fertility 

 they combine a considerable degree of hardiness in both adult and young compared with other 

 members of their family, and to these characteristics we may attribute the fact that they increase 

 with remarkable certainty and at a rapid rate when afforded even ordinary facilities. The placing 

 of a few hundred adults in a pond at the season of their ascent is surely followed by the descent 

 of a throng of young a few weeks later, and the return of a considerable body of mature fish 

 after the lapse of three or four years. It is doubtful whether there is another among our whole 

 list of fish that will so well repay efforts at cultivation. 



MODES OF CAPTURE. Alewives are caught in weirs, seines, drift-nets, set-nets, and dip-nets. 

 The weirs do not differ essentially from those already described as built for the capture of salmon 

 and shad, along with which the alewives are taken in such waters as are frequented by those 

 species. This method is in use in the tidal part of every river where alewives abound. The seines 

 are the same as the shad-seines already described. They have recently almost wholly gone out 

 of use, but are plied in a few localities, among which may be mentioned the lower part of Darn- 

 ariscotta River. Drift-nets, with a mesh of 2 inches, have been employed for catching alewives 

 down to recent times in the Kennebec River, but have now been abandoned. They were cast 

 from a boat at night, the banks of the channel just outside of the weirs being considered the best 

 ground. There has never been a time when many alewives were taken in this way, aud they 

 are not known to have been so taken in any other river. Set-nets have been used only in a few 

 localities and to a verv limited extent. 



