| Alewife | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Clupeiformes |
| Family: | Clupeidae |
| Subfamily: | Alosinae |
| Genus: | Alosa |
| Subgenus: | A. (Pomolobus) |
| Species: | A. (P.) pseudoharengus |
| Binomial name | |
| Alosa (Pomolobus) pseudoharengus (A. Wilson, 1811) |
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The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of herring. There are anadromous and landlocked forms. The landlocked form is also called a sawbelly or mooneye (although this latter name is more commonly applied to Hiodon spp.). The front of the body is deep and bigger than other fish found in the same waters, and its common name is said to come from comparison with a corpulent female tavernkeeper ("ale-wife").[1] In Atlantic Canada it is known as the gaspereau. More locally, in southwestern Nova Scotia it is called a kiack (or kyack).[2] In the Southeast US, when sold and used as bait, the fish is often referred to as "LY".
Adult alewives are preferred bait for the spring lobster fishery in Maine.[3] It is also used for human consumption, usually smoked. It is caught (during its spawning migration up stream) using large dip nets to scoop the fish out of shallow, constricted areas on its migratory streams and rivers. It is one of the "typical" North American shads of the subgenus Pomolobus. (Faria et al. 2006)
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Alewives are perhaps best known for their invasion of the Great Lakes by using the Welland Canal to bypass Niagara Falls. Alewives colonized the Great Lakes and became abundant mostly in lakes Huron and Michigan. They reached their peak abundance by the 1950s and 1980s. Alewives grew in number unchecked because of the lack of a top predator in the lakes (lake trout were essentially wiped out around the same time by overfishing and the invasion of the sea lamprey). For a time, alewives, which often exhibit seasonal die offs, washed up in windrows on the shorelines of the Great Lakes. Their control was the impetus for the introduction of various Pacific Salmon species (first coho, and later the chinook salmon) to act as predators on them. This caused the development of a salmon/alewife fish community, popular with many sport anglers. Alewives, however, have been implicated in the decline of many native Great Lakes species through competition and predation.
Alewife populations have exhibited drastic declines throughout much of their range. There are several threats that have most likely contributed to their decline. These threats include: loss of habitat due to decreased access to spawning areas from the construction of dams and other impediments to migration; habitat degradation; fishing; and increased predation due to recovering striped bass populations.
In response to the declining trend for alewife, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and North Carolina have instituted moratoriums on taking and possession.
The alewife is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern. Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).