When the fishway on the Milltown Dam in New Brunswick was replaced in the early 1980s, there was a dramatic increase in the number of alewives passing into the St. Croix, from 169,000 in 1981 to 2.6 million in 1987. But many local anglers blamed alewives for the collapse of the bass fishery at Spednic Lake on the Maine-New Brunswick border. So alewives were blocked out of Spednic by closing the Vanceboro fishway in 1987. Then passage at Grand Falls was closed off in 1991 and at Woodland Dam in 1995. For the first hour of the hearing, supporters testified that restoring alewives would provide food for other fish and for birds, such as osprey and bald eagles.
Alewives also are a popular bait fish for recreational anglers and commercial fishermen.
They're a very important species in the ocean. Also speaking for the bill were state officials from the Department of Marine Resources and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, The Island Institute, and the Coastal Conservation Association, an organization for saltwater anglers. Opponents, however, were worried that alewives would eat young bass, spread disease and harm smelt populations, which support salmon. Another concern is that landlocked alewives have been illegally introduced into the watershed . Not enough research has been done to determine the consequences of restoring sea-run alewives to the watershed, said Skip Trask, lobbyist for the Maine Professional Guides Association.