Alewife station Minuteman Bikeway, Cambridge Linear Park, and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path. Alewife opened on March 30, 1985. Originally only to be a temporary terminus during construction of the Arlington section of the Red Line, Alewife became the regular terminus when the further extension was canceled. The station is named after Alewife Brook, a nearby tributary of the Mystic River, which in turn is named after the alewife fish which inhabits the Mystic River system. Alewife features six pieces of public art which were built as part of the first stage of the Arts on the Line program. Boston transportation planners expected
Alewife taxa ("Bythotrephes longimanus", "Leptodiaptomus ashlandi", "Leptodiaptomus minutus", "Leptodiaptomus sicilis", and "Leptodora kindtii"). Alewife populations have seen big declines throughout much of their range. Several threats have most likely contributed to their decline, including loss of habitat due to decreased access to spawning areas from the construction of dams and other impediments to migration, habitat degradation, fishing, and increased predation due to recovering striped bass populations. In response to the declining population trend for alewives, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, and North Carolina have instituted moratoria on taking and possession. The alewife is a US National Marine Fisheries