[quote name='Squid_Man' timestamp='1305078351' post='22229']
River herrings tend to be a bit bulkier and have blue backs. Alewives are a little yellow in color. Sea herrings have a skinnier profile and have a distinctive purplish/pink sheen to them. And also their scales fall apart faster as they're not built to swim through rocky streams. I've caught herring at GI and I can confirm that they're sea herrings. When Alewives were legal I took them to the causeway and they stood out compared to the herrings there. If EPO have anything to say I'm sure it can be refuted. "Dude, that's a sea herring man".
[/quote]
your right with the color, but unfortunately color does not justify everything. Fish can change color, most times your right, an alewife is yellowish, bluebacks have blue backs. But as I was saying, juvenile or sub adults can be hard to identify, especially if they are not bulked up, alewives I find are more rounded off on the bottom and blueback tend to be alot smaller than either alewives or sea herring.. But subadults and juvies are hard.
I am not here to argue with you, I am just here for an educational view as I see countless people who go out flounder fishing and call black backs yellowtails cause theres no limit on yellowtails.
Again its only herring..
Here is a great guide to identifying this fish with out counting rays and bones
[url="http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/herring_id.pdf"]http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/herring_id.pdf[/url]
River herrings tend to be a bit bulkier and have blue backs. Alewives are a little yellow in color. Sea herrings have a skinnier profile and have a distinctive purplish/pink sheen to them. And also their scales fall apart faster as they're not built to swim through rocky streams. I've caught herring at GI and I can confirm that they're sea herrings. When Alewives were legal I took them to the causeway and they stood out compared to the herrings there. If EPO have anything to say I'm sure it can be refuted. "Dude, that's a sea herring man".
[/quote]
your right with the color, but unfortunately color does not justify everything. Fish can change color, most times your right, an alewife is yellowish, bluebacks have blue backs. But as I was saying, juvenile or sub adults can be hard to identify, especially if they are not bulked up, alewives I find are more rounded off on the bottom and blueback tend to be alot smaller than either alewives or sea herring.. But subadults and juvies are hard.
I am not here to argue with you, I am just here for an educational view as I see countless people who go out flounder fishing and call black backs yellowtails cause theres no limit on yellowtails.
Again its only herring..
Here is a great guide to identifying this fish with out counting rays and bones
[url="http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/herring_id.pdf"]http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/herring_id.pdf[/url]