By Jim Porthouse
May 12th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Take a walk along what used to be a twin-track railway line at least once a week and enjoy the breeze coming in off the lake.
Follow the path to its end and you get to the canal that leads into Hamilton Harbour.
A sudden cold snap or storm, bringing colder water to the shore, will cause a die-off.
This morning the group I walk with saw hundreds of small dead fish floating on the surface of the water.
They are Alewives, an invasive species that harm lake trout and are eaten by salmon.
Alewives, a type of herring native to the Atlantic Ocean, first entered the Great Lakes in the 1800s through canals.
There are millions of alewives, and the die-off is not a concern.
After spending most of their lives in the cold water, they come close to shore in the spring to spawn.
Near shore, the fish become acclimatized to warmer water. A sudden cold snap or storm, bringing colder water to the shore, will cause a die-off.
