Alewife
Alosa pseudoharengus
Verified
Handling & regulations: Collectively known with blueback herring as 'river herring' — both species have been under a Virginia-wide harvest moratorium since January 1, 2012 (4VAC20-1260-30): it is unlawful to catch and retain possession of any river herring from Virginia tidal waters. Any river herring caught incidentally must be released immediately. 'River Herring' is deliberately NOT used as an alias for this single species, since it genuinely names the pair collectively — aliasing it to just alewife would misrepresent blueback herring.
Commonly confused with: Blueback Herring. If you're not sure which one you've caught, treat it as the more restricted species and release it until you can confirm.
Identification
Almost identical to blueback herring at a glance — the confirmed internal difference is the lining of the abdominal cavity (light-colored, with a few scattered spots, in alewife; solid black in blueback herring), Larger eye than blueback herring, Grey-green on the back (blueback herring is blue-green), Alewife typically spawn earlier in spring than blueback herring, though timing overlaps
More photos
Where this fish fits
Alewife is found across more than one water environment — this reflects real movement between them (e.g. a tidal migration or life-stage change), not uncertainty about where to look.
These are discovery categories describing where anglers realistically fish for this species, not a guarantee this project has confirmed regional access at every listed setting — see the linked locations below for this project's own actually-sourced spots.
- Typical season
- Spring spawning runs up Hampton Roads-area tidal-river tributaries, alongside blueback herring and shad — must be released immediately if caught, not a species to fish for.
- Habitats
- Tidal-river tributaries during the spring spawning run
- Food use
- Harvest restricted or prohibited
Data not yet verified.
This site hasn't checked for a fish-consumption advisory covering this species yet. That is not the same as confirmed safe — check current official guidance before eating your catch.
Seasons, size limits, and possession limits change and vary by water body. Always check the current regulations at the current regulations page before you fish.
- Bait & lures
- Beginner difficulty
- Moderate
Confirmed against an official or primary source as of the date shown.
The Virginia-wide catch-and-retain moratorium (effective 2012-01-01) is directly confirmed against the actual regulation text at 4VAC20-1260-30 — re-confirmed live 2026-08-20 (Release Closeout pass's own bounded freshness gate) as still in effect and unchanged. The internal-membrane-color, eye-size, and back-color identification distinctions from blueback herring are directly confirmed against a regional (New England-sourced, but describing the same two widely-distributed species) river-herring identification handout — general, well-corroborated identification knowledge for this exact species pair, not Virginia-specific research. Habitat/season notes reflect general regional knowledge, not individually fact-checked.