Along most of the Atlantic coast, alewives are struggling after decades of damming and overfishing. But in Maine, the fish is rebounding—and towns’ historic harvests are growing.

Click to read the June Issue of LightHawk's Conservation FLYer email newsletter.

That, plus decades of infrastructure upgrades, have revived a keystone fish species.

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration. On a mid-May weekend, Benton held its annual Alewife Festival on the riverbank. With the tunes of a local steel drum band in the background, families made fish-themed crafts, sampled smoked alewives, and watched the migration in progress. Below Benton Falls Dam, fishermen hauled alewives into their boats one full net at a time. Looking at this scene, it’s hard to believe that 35 years ago, fewer than 800 alewives were making this trip upriver. Last year, they numbered 9 million. The story of Maine’s alewives is a conservation success decades in the making—and unmatched on the rest of the Atlantic coast. Like Benton, several Maine towns hold spring festivals or 5K runs to celebrate the alewives’ return. In the coastal town of Penobscot, it’s the biggest event of the year, according to Bailey Bowden, who heads the local alewife committee. Bowden, age 60, is...

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration. On a mid-May weekend, […]

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration. On a mid-May weekend, […]

In Maine, alewife fish have made an incredible comeback on the Sebasticook River—from just 800 fish 35 years ago to 9 million last year. Towns like Benton now hold festivals celebrating the fish's annual migration.

For a few weeks each summer, the Sebasticook River in Benton, Maine, is paved with flashing silver scales, so thick it seems you could almost walk across. The alewives have returned for their annual migration. On a mid-May weekend, Benton held its annual Alewife Festival on the riverbank. With the tunes of a local steel drum band in the background, families made fish-themed crafts, sampled smoked alewives and watched the migration in progress. Below Benton Falls Dam, fishermen hauled alewives into their boats one full net at a time. Looking at this scene, it’s hard to believe that 35 years ago, fewer than 800 alewives were making this trip upriver. Last year, they numbered 9 million. The story of Maine’s alewives is a conservation success decades in the making—and unmatched on the rest of the Atlantic coast. A Fish Worth Celebrating Like Benton, several Maine towns hold spring festivals or 5K runs to celebrate the alewives’ return. In the coastal town of Penobscot, it’s the biggest event of the year, according to Bailey Bowden, who heads the local alewife committee. Bowden, age 60, is a ninth-generation resident of Penobscot, population 1,100. He first learned about alewives from older relatives when...

PITTSFIELD –  Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union announced the recipients of its annual scholarships for 2026, promoting scholastic excellence and

Chemical contamination has made it into two more Maine waterways in concentrations great enough to pose danger to people eating the fish they catch. Testing in Sandy Stream in Freedom, Knox and Unity, and in the Sebasticook River in Winslow, found elevated levels of the toxic chemical perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in fish tissue samples, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention. Fish consumption advisory · Sandy Stream & Sebastiocok PFOS is one of the many types perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The man-made chemicals, which are excellent at repelling water, stains and grease, have been used for decades in a wide variety of consumer products, including nonstick cookware, carpeting and upholstery, clothing and food packaging. It is also used in firefighting foam. Because they are not easily broken down in the environment or the human body, PFAS are known as “forever chemicals.” Research has linked PFAS to adverse health affects. The substances have been detected in sewage sludge, which was commonly used as fertilizer on Maine farms in the 1990s and 2000s. In recent years, dozens of farms, particularly in central Maine, were found to be contaminated. From the farms, the the toxic chemicals have...

The advisory applies to Sandy Stream in Freedom, Knox and Unity, and the Sebasticook River in Winslow.

PITTSFIELD – Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union announced its participation in the Maine Credit Union League’s 2025 Campaign for Ending Hunger, a

YouTube video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

A data security incident at Compumedics, a provider of sleep disorder diagnostic services, has potentially compromised the information of certain patients at Northern Light Health. The affected patients are those seen at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Northern Light AR Gould, and Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital. The incident has impacted 10 healthcare entities. No additional reports have been published to date.