Actually we don't want neither alewives or smelts because they are whats keeping back lake trout from recovering in the great lakes. Even fish that eat Alewives get a thiamine deficiency that negatively impacts their hatchlings, especially Lakers...
But there here to stay, and this "I don't give a shit" attitude a lot of anglers have is not helping the situation.
Well, we are stuck with smelts( they came through the canal I believe), and the thing is, it isn't anglers responsible, it's the profit making/globalist business ethic primarily behind it all - and that goes for a lot of extinctions too.
I grew up on georgian bay and I have watched it die out considerably, and that is the reason many invasive species get in - because there is now a space they can fill.