Mean Weight-at-Age of Alewife

Mean (average) weight-at-age for alewife in Lake Ontario from 1984-2017. Age 3 (green line) and age 4 (blue line) alewife now weigh as much as age 8 (gray line) alewife in the early 2000s (compare lines in gray box on right to line in gray box toward middle of figure). Alewife growth increased coincident with increased prevalence of Cercopagis and Bythotrephes in the early 2000s (blue arrow).