The alewife is a small but important member of the herring family. Alewives grow to around 10 inches in length. Freshwater individuals are generally smaller in size than anadromous fish.
In lakes and reservoirs, alewives usually occupy open waters. In some areas, alewives are vulnerable to die-offs during long periods of cold weather.
In the Great Lakes, alewife populations exploded in the 1960’s before collapsing in the 1990’s. Although alewives are less common in Great Lakes, they still play a part in the dynamics of the waterway.
Alewives are popular for catching trout, walleye, striped bass, blue catfish, and other freshwater fish. They are sometimes caught with cast nets or seines for use as live baits.
Alewives also occur in rivers and saltwater estuaries and are often found together with blueback herring. In these environments, the two species are known collectively as river herring.