Blueback Herring
Alosa aestivalis
Verified
Handling & regulations: Collectively known with alewife 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 blueback herring would misrepresent alewife.
Commonly confused with: Alewife. 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 alewife at a glance — the confirmed internal difference is the lining of the abdominal cavity (solid black in blueback herring; light-colored with a few scattered spots in alewife), Smaller eye than alewife, Blue-green on the back (alewife is grey-green), Deeply forked tail; silver sides with purple/blue highlights in certain light; eye diameter roughly equal to snout length
More photos
Where this fish fits
Blueback Herring 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 alewife and shad, generally spawning somewhat later than alewife though timing overlaps — 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 forked-tail, sickle-shaped anal fin, coloring, and eye-diameter-equals-snout-length identification features are directly confirmed against Virginia DWR's own blueback herring species page — the internal-membrane-color and eye-size-vs-alewife distinctions are corroborated via the same regional river-herring identification handout cited on alewife's own entry. Habitat/season notes reflect general regional knowledge, not individually fact-checked.