The alewife, long recognized by the Passamaquoddy people as the "fish that feeds all," is coming back to its ancestral spawning grounds in record numbers after decades of contending with obstructed waterways. Along with recent population gains on the Pennamaquan River following the installation of a fishway, the St. Croix River -- or Skutik, as it is known to the tribe -- is continuing to see significant gains as work continues to improve fish passage. At the forefront of local efforts is the Sipayik Environmental Department (SED), for whom the work holds both ecological and cultural meaning.
      "The [Pennamaquan] river is a sacred place to the Passamaquoddy," says Chris Soctomah, fisheries biologist of the SED. The river has been a focus of the SED for several years, with the department contributing funds awarded by the Nature Conservancy to replace a fishway on the lower part of the river in 2018. As the alewife returned in increasing numbers, the SED assisted with the installation of an electronic counter -- and when that was found to be creating a bottleneck for larger species such as shad, the department purchased a camera for fish counting in 2021.
      With the camera system, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) counted nearly 500,000 alewives in 2024, up from just over 70,000 in 2014. It was enough for the harvest to reopen this year under the DMR's guidance. While Soctomah says the numbers look sustainable enough to support the harvest, careful monitoring is necessary to ensure that remains true. Ultimately, the priority should be for the sustainability of the species and the health of the watershed as a whole, he says, and those involved need to "do the best we can to make sure that the river is clean and that fish are plentiful for current and future generations."
      The SED is collaborating with the DMR and Maine Sea Grant (MSG) to actively monitor the alewife population in the Pennamaquan, Soctomah says, including taking counts and biological and juvenile sampling. More than just collecting the data, however, it's about "being there and really understanding the fishway."
      Along with alewives and shad, the SED is lending its efforts to a host of other species, including the American eel, which Soctomah says is currently struggling to spawn on the Pennamaquan. "You do see them trying to climb over the dam, but most of the time they're not successful." Just this year, the department has counted -- and rescued -- thousands of eels attempting to make the journey. "We're dedicated to enhancing their habitat and plan to install eel ways in the near future to help them upriver."
      In the Pennamaquan estuary, meanwhile, Kyle Francis of the SED has been actively sampling eDNA to collect data on the species using it as habitat. The data will be submitted to inform a proposal tidal dam project currently being reviewed at the federal level. "We're now doing assessments in that estuary to really understand what could be affected if a dam were to be built," Soctomah says. "I'm worried that all the work that has been done to restore fish populations [will be offset] and that we might see a rapid decline if another dam is constructed."
      The alewife population is tenuous, Soctomah explains, and it can be affected by a number of variables. On the Little River in Perry, for example, the SED has been counting alewives for the past three years, with an additional year of data from MSG. So far, the count has been variable, but "the trend is down," he says. "Just being there, you can see there are fewer fish coming up." Possible factors include the ongoing harvest, the management of the fishery itself and natural elements such as beaver dams -- but the department won't have a clear enough picture until 10 years of data can be collected. Even then, it has no jurisdiction over the alewife harvest, Soctomah says.
      On the Skutik, the river is undergoing what has been called the largest river restoration on the East Coast through the efforts of the International St. Croix River Watershed Board (ISCRWB), in collaboration with the SED. The decommissioning of the Milltown dam in 2024 has led to a significant influx of alewives farther up the river -- with 610,452 fish counted this year, or 162% more than were counted last year by the SED.
      Those fish are now struggling with an antiquated fishway at the Woodland dam that only allows for approximately a quarter of the fish to pass through, according to the ISCRWB. The SED is actively working to address that problem, having won a $12 million award from NOAA last year for the construction of a new fishway at the Woodland dam, along with securing funds for the design of a fishway at Grand Falls farther up the river.
      The process of restoring the watershed for the return of the alewives has been a long one, but the reward is significant -- particularly with consideration to what the fish represents to Passamaquoddy culture.

Alewife Day celebrates ancestral fish
     Each May, the return of the alewives to the local watershed is met with fanfare by tribal members as they welcome the integral fish back to its ancestral spawning grounds. For the past 10 years, the SAD has coordinated Alewife Day as a way to involve tribal youth in the celebration and connect them with traditional teachings. This year's event saw around 70 youth participating, with youth from Motahkomikuk included for the first time. "The point is really about connecting the community to the river," Soctomah says, noting that the day includes cultural components such as drumming and traditional foods. "It's a way of connecting to the river, connecting to our culture."
      The day begins on the Pennamaquan River, where members of the department demonstrate western science techniques, including biological fish sampling and eDNA collection, along with showing the process of fish stocking by physically carrying alewives over the dam. "The kids really enjoy participating in this," Soctomah says. "You can see the enthusiasm to help the fish over the dam" to continue their journey.
      The second part of the day is held at Sipp Bay, where a feast of traditional foods such as fiddleheads, softshell clams and smoked fish is offered alongside activities and hikes with community members. "It's about being present and enjoying the day, while also acknowledging the return of the alewives, shad, eels and other sea run fish species that have continued to return for thousands of years," Soctomah says. "The alewives provide a host of ecosystem services and provide food and sustenance for humans, eagles, osprey, turtles, mink, otters, groundfish and many others. The connections from the bay to our rivers are very important."
      The Alewife Day is a collaborative effort with support from Sipayik Elementry School, Indian Township School, Native American Programs and Cooperative Extension, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Downeast Salmon Federation, MSG and Maine DMR.