HALFWAY PEOPLE
Canadian Folklore
Resembling Mermaids
According to the legends and traditions of the Micmac people of eastern Canada, these are sea humanoids resembling the MERMAIDS of European legend. The HALFWAY PEOPLE are so called because they have the upper body resembling humans and the lower body of an enormous fish. Unlike their European counterparts, when the HALFWAY PEOPLE sang it was to warn the local fishfolk that a storm was coming. Whilever they were treated with respect, these beings would be benign, but should any human be disrespectful, then they would invoke storms and such turbulence that the fisherman would be drowned.
Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth