His family has harvested alewives at the same Maine stream for a century

Thousands of alewives swim up the Nequasset Stream in Woolwich, Maine, from the sea each May, thrashing against the swift current, returning to the waters where they were born. The sleek, silver fish have undertaken the same mass migration, conquering the same rapids for the sake of their next generation, for millions of years. By comparison, Steve Bodge has only been harvesting alewives at Nequasset for 67 years, a mere blip in history but a span of time encompassing most of his life. He first learned the art of dipping for alewives with his stepfather at age 11, in 1958. Now a hale but slowing 78-year-old, Bodge isn’t sure how many more springs he’ll be able to operate the physically demanding alewife harvesting enterprise he runs for the town — which both his stepfather and older stepbrother ran before him. This year, for the first time, his daughter Jaime Burns, 45, is pitching in.