Can you eat alewife?
Sure, you can eat them during lean times, and maybe the old hands will wax poetic about smoked and salted alewife, but nowadays the fish are likely to be used for pet food, fertilizer or lobster bait. Alewives were once a prominent-albeit seasonal-member of the native fish community in Atlantic coastal watersheds.
Why is the alewife a problem?
Why is it a problem? Alewives eat the same prey, zooplankton, as many native species; they may also eat their eggs and larvae. Although alewives serve as food for lake trout, a diet high in alewives lowers reproductive success for the trout.
Where did the word alewife come from?
The front of the body is deep and larger 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”).
What do alewives taste like?
They taste like mackerel. They’re great on the grill but they’re best fried.” Leviton opted to fry his alewives. He dredged them in heavy cream mixed with egg yolks to increase the stickiness for breading, so the fine fish bones would melt during pan frying.
What do alewife look like?
Alewives have an overall silvery color with a grayish green back. A black spot at the eye level is directly behind the head. Adults have longitudinal lines that run along the midline of the body. Small alewives have a violet sheen on the sides while adults have a golden cast on their heads and upper parts.
Where are alewife found?
Alewives are native to the Atlantic Ocean and the lakes and streams that drain to it from Newfoundland to North Carolina. They are “anadromous”, which means that they live most of their lives in the sea but migrate into freshwater rivers and streams to breed.
What’s alewife mean?
woman who keeps an alehouse
Definition of alewife (Entry 1 of 2) : a woman who keeps an alehouse.
What is alewife meaning?
a woman who keeps an alehouse
What is an alewife look like?
Alewives are grey-green and blueback herrings are blue-green on our dorsal (back) sides. We are thin or compressed from side to side, but long from our dorsal to ventral (belly) sides, and we both have a forked tail.
What are alewives good for?
Alewife tissues contain a chemical that breaks down thiamine, an important vitamin for the development of young fish and eggs. The chemical can also break down thiamine in fish that eat alewives, like lake trout.