An 11-inch alewife taken in Bride Brook (photo from CT DEEP)

A recent report from CT DEEP noted that an estimated 280,000 alewife, a species from the herring family, entered Bride Lake to spawn this year, which is a very good run. In fact, this number was likely an underestimate as the electronic counter was turned off when significant numbers of post-spawners were leaving the lake even though new fish were continuing to arrive. This year’s estimate was about 96 thousand fish greater than the 2009-24 median estimate and 70 thousand greater than the long-term mean.

East Lyme should be proud that the town hosts the largest alewife run in Connecticut. Juvenile alewife should leave Bride Lake in late summer and early fall to enter Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean before returning again to Bride Brook and Lake as adult spawners in one to three years.