Alewife (Alosa tyrannus), a fish of the same genus with the Shad (q.v.), which, in the end of spring and beginning of summer, appears in great numbers on the eastern coast of North America, and enters the mouths of rivers to spawn. It appears in Chesapeake Bay in March, on the coasts of New York and New England in April, and on those of the British provinces about the 1st of May. It abounds in the Bay of Fundy, but is more rare in the Gulf of St Lawrence; and the Bay of Miramichi appears to be its northern limit. It ascends
Copyright 1898 in U.S.
by J. B. Lippincott
Company. rivers only as far as the tide extends, and after spawning, returns to the sea in the middle of summer. It prefers a soft, muddy bottom. Its length is not more than 12 inches. The alewife is called spring herring in some places, and gaspereau by the French Canadians. In the United States it is considered much superior to the herring. The fishery is prosecuted in the rivers, by small-meshed seine-nets set across the stream. Large quantities are taken in the rivers of New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The harbour of St John's, New Brunswick, alone produces from 12,000 to 20,000 barrels annually. This fish, in a salted state, forms a considerable article of export from the northern parts of America to the West Indies.