LINCOLN COUNTY NEWS • June 11, 2020
The Bristol Mills fish ladder is in the midst of a banner year, though this may be its last. Well over 100,000 alewives have ascended the ladder thus far in the migratory season, stretching the aging ladder’s capacity and working volunteers hard. This is a “surge year” for alewives across the Midcoast. A couple towns over, the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder has counted over a million alewives already this year. The influx of migrating fish occurs every two or three years as a result of periodic increases in upstream spawning.