From Britannica: “alewife, also called sawbelly, grayback, gaspereau, or branch herring.”
Not so, sez my fish-scientist buddy. The wonderful voice next to me in Quoddy Voices as we sang a chant to the varieties of herring in Maine.
After talking to others, I’m siding with him.
They are a beautiful fish, usually less than a foot long. And amazingly strong and fast, migrating from the ocean to their freshwater breeding waters.
Now, to nail down the older pronunciation, as one former Cape Codder informed me was pronounced more like “el-wif.”
We have had an incredible spring run here, with 30,000 a day zipping up the small river where I photographed these..
Jnana's Red Barn 