Smelt | |
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Pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Osmeriformes |
Suborder: | Osmeroidei |
Family: | Osmeridae Regan, 1913 |
Genera | |
Allosmerus Contents |
Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts to distinguish them from the related Argentinidae (herring smelts or argentines), Bathylagidae (deep-sea smelts), and Retropinnidae (Australian and New Zealand smelts).
Some smelt species are common in the North American Great Lakes, and in the lakes and seas of the northern part of Europe, where they run in large schools along the saltwater coastline during spring migration to their spawning streams. In some western parts of the United States, smelt populations have greatly declined in recent decades, leading to their protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) found in the Sacramento Delta of California, and the eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) found in the Northeast Pacific and adjacent rivers, are both protected from harvest.
Some species of smelts are among the few fish that sportsmen have been allowed to net, using hand-held dip nets, either along the coastline or in streams. Some sportsmen also ice fish for smelt. They are often fried and eaten whole.
In size, most species rarely exceed 20 centimetres (8 inches), although some grow larger. Some females of European smelt can reach 25–40 cm (9,8–15,7 in) in length. [1]
Like salmon, many species are anadromous, living most of their lives in the sea, but traveling into fresh water to breed. However, a few exceptions, such as the surf smelt, spend their entire lives at sea. [2]
Family Osmeridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cladogram of the family Osmeridae. Salangidae and Plecoglossus might be sister clades to the osmerid genera. [3] |
In the Canadian provinces and U.S. states around the Great Lakes, "smelt dipping" is a common group sport in the early spring and when stream waters reach around 4 °C (39 °F). Fish are spotted using a flashlight or headlamp and scooped out of the water using a dip net made of nylon or metal mesh. The smelt are cleaned by removing the head and the entrails. Fins, scales, and bones of all but the largest of smelts are cooked without removal. [4]
On the Maine coast, smelts were also a sign of spring, with the run of these small fish up tiny tidal estuaries. Many of these streams were narrow enough for a person to straddle and get a good catch of smelts by dipping a bucket. [4]
Smelts are an important winter catch in the saltwater mouths of rivers in New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Fishermen would historically go to customary locations over the ice using horses and sleighs. Smelt taken out of the cold saltwater were preferred to those taken in warm water. The fish did not command a high price on the market, but provided a source of supplemental income due to their abundance. The smelts were "flash frozen" simply by leaving them on the ice and then sold to fish buyers who came down the rivers.
In the present day, smelts are fished commercially using nets at sea, and for recreation by hand-netting, spearing or angling them through holes in river ice. They are often the target fish of small 'fishing shack' villages that spring up along frozen rivers. Typical ways of preparing them include pan-frying in flour and butter, deep-frying in batter and cooking them, directly out of the water, over small stoves in the shacks.
Indigenous peoples in Canada native to the Great Lakes regions (Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior), as well as nearby Lake Erie (which still is well known for its smelts today), were both familiar and partially dependent upon smelts as a dietary source of protein and omega fats that didn't require a large effort or hunting party to obtain. Smelts are one of the best choices of freshwater and saltwater fish to eat, as one of the types of edible fish with the lowest amount of mercury. [5]
Smelts can be found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as in some freshwater lakes across Canada. Smelts were eaten by many different native peoples who had access to them. One popular way that First Nations of the Pacific coast made dried smelts more appealing was to serve it with oil. [5] Eulachon, a type of smelt, contains so much oil during spawning that, once dried, it can literally be burned like a candle; hence its common nickname of the "candlefish". [5]
Today, there are numerous recipes and methods of preparing and cooking smelts. A popular First Nations recipe calls for the removal of all the fishes' bones, uses canola or peanut oil for frying, and has a breaded-like coating mixed with lemon juice and grated parmesan cheese (with a few other basic ingredients) to coat the smelts prior to frying them. [5]
Smelt is popular in Japan, as the species Sprinchus lanceolatus, and is generally served grilled, called shishamo , especially when full of eggs.
Smelt roe, specifically from capelin, called masago in Japanese, is yellow to orange in color and is often used in sushi.
Smelt is also served in Chinese dim sum restaurants where it is deep fried with the heads and tails attached, identified as duō chūn yú (多春魚) or duō luǎn yú (多卵魚), "many egg fish" or which loosely translates as "fish with many eggs". [6]
Smelt is one of the prime fish species eaten in Tamil Nadu as Nethili fry, Nethili karuvadu (dried fish), coastal Karnataka, especially in Mangalore and Udupi regions, usually fried with heads and tailed removed or in curries. They are called 'Bolingei' (ಬೊಳಂಜೆ) in Kannada and Tulu and 'MotiyaLe' in Konkani.
In the city of Inje, South Korea (Gangwon Province), an Ice Fishing Festival is held annually from January 30 to February 2 on Soyang Lake, coinciding with the smelt's yearly run into fresh water to spawn. They are locally known as bing-eo (빙어) and typically eaten alive or deep-fried. [7]
In Finland, the province of Paltamo has yearly Norssikarnevaali festivals in the middle of May.
For some Italians, especially from the region of Calabria, fried smelts are a traditional part of the Christmas Eve dinner consisting of multiple courses of fish.
In 1956, the Chamber of Commerce in Kelso, Washington, declared Kelso, located on the Cowlitz River, as the "Smelt Capital of the World". They erected billboards proclaiming this, and held festivals for the annual smelt runs until the runs dried up. [5]
The village of Lewiston, New York, on the lower portion of the Niagara River, celebrates an annual two-day smelt festival the first weekend in May. [8] [9] During the festival, approximately 160 kilograms (350 pounds) of smelt are battered and fried at the Lewiston Waterfront. [10] The smelt samples are free during the festival and donations are welcome, as they help support programs supported by the Niagara River Anglers. The festival has a motto, which is a play on words: "Lewiston never smelt so good." [11]
Lithuania celebrates an annual weekend smelt festival in Palanga "Palangos Stinta" early every January.
The American Legion Post 82, in Port Washington, Wisconsin, has been hosting its annual Smelt Fry since 1951. Located on the Western shore of Lake Michigan, 35 miles North of Milwaukee, Port Washington has a long history as a fishing community with commercial and sports ventures. The Legion's Smelt Fry happens every year in mid to late April. In mid-July, the quaint town hosts their Fish Day event, billed as "The world's largest, one-day, outdoor fish fry!"
At the time of the smelt's spring run in the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea in Saint Petersburg, a Smelt Festival (Prazdnik koryushki) is celebrated.
The Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe of Duluth, Minnesota has held an annual "Run, Smelt, Run!" puppet-based second line parade, smelt fry, and dance party since 2012. [12] The troupe occasionally hosts other performances throughout the year.
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it can be damaging to the environment.
Trout is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used for some similar-shaped but non-salmonid fish, such as the spotted seatrout/speckled trout.
The barramundi, Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although survival is only approximately 10–20%.
The eulachon, or the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North America from northern California to Alaska.
The Atlantic salmon is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it. Most populations are anadromous, hatching in streams and rivers but moving out to sea as they grow where they mature, after which the adults seasonally move upstream again to spawn.
The Chinook salmon is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, Quinnat salmon, Tsumen, spring salmon, chrome hog, Blackmouth, and Tyee salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name chavycha (чавыча).
Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring 604 square miles (1,560 km2) below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west. To the north of Cape Cod Bay lie Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod Bay is the southernmost extremity of the Gulf of Maine. Cape Cod Bay is one of the bays adjacent to Massachusetts that give it the name Bay State. The others are Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Massachusetts Bay.
The cutthroat trout(Oncorhynchus clarkii) is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus Oncorhynchus, it is one of the Pacific trout, a group that includes the widely distributed rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout are popular gamefish, especially among anglers who enjoy fly fishing. The common name "cutthroat" refers to the distinctive red coloration on the underside of the lower jaw. The specific name clarkii was given to honor explorer William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The American shad is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. The American shad is not closely related to the other North American shads. Rather, it seems to form a lineage that diverged from a common ancestor of the European taxa before these diversified.
Puget Sound salmon recovery is a collective effort of federal, state and local authorities and non-profit coalitions of universities, scientists, business and industry aimed at restoring Pacific salmon and anadromous forms of Pacific trout (Oncorhynchus) within the Puget Sound region. The Puget Sound lies within the native range of the Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus) and two sea-run forms of Pacific trout, the coastal rainbow trout or steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout. Populations of Oncorhynchus have seen significant declines since the middle of the 19th century due to over fishing, habitat loss, pollution and disease. Salmon species residing in or migrating through the Puget Sound to spawning streams include Chum, Coho, Chinook, Sockeye, and Pink salmon. Pacific salmon require freshwater rivers for spawning and most major tributaries of the Puget Sound have salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout spawning runs.
The delta smelt is an endangered slender-bodied smelt, about 5 to 7 cm long, in the family Osmeridae. Endemic to the upper Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary of California, it mainly inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone of the estuary, except during its spawning season, when it migrates upstream to fresh water following winter "first flush" flow events. It functions as an indicator species for the overall health of the Delta's ecosystem.
The rainbow smelt is a North American species of fish of the family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile ciscoes, zooplankton such as calanoid copepods, and other small organisms, but are aggressive and will eat almost any fish they find. They are anadromous spring spawners and prefer clean streams with light flow and light siltation. The rainbow smelt face several barriers. They are weak swimmers and struggle to navigate fish ladders preventing them from making it past dams to the headwater streams where they spawn. The rise in erosion and dams helped to decimate the smelt population in the 1980s. There are currently plans to try to reduce damming and to help control erosion.
The New Zealand smelt, also known as the New Zealand common smelt, New Zealand cucumber fish, or silveries is a smelt of the family Retropinnidae, found only in New Zealand at shallow depths in estuaries and rivers. Their length is between 8 and 13 cm.
The coastal cutthroat trout, also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the several subspecies of cutthroat trout found in Western North America. The coastal cutthroat trout occurs in four distinct forms. A semi-anadromous or sea-run form is the most well known. Freshwater forms occur in both large and small rivers and streams and lake environments. The native range of the coastal cutthroat trout extends south from the southern coastline of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to the Eel River in Northern California. Coastal cutthroat trout are resident in tributary streams and rivers of the Pacific basin and are rarely found more than 100 miles (160 km) from the ocean.
Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish that feed on plankton and other tiny organisms. They are preyed on by larger predators, including larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Typical ocean forage fish feed near the base of the food chain on plankton, often by filter feeding. They include particularly fishes of the order Clupeiformes, but also other small fish, including halfbeaks, silversides, smelt such as capelin and goldband fusiliers.
Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between 25 and 50 millimetres long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-meshed fishing nets. Whitebaiting is the activity of catching whitebait.
The smelt or European smelt is a species of fish in the family Osmeridae.
The harvesting and consuming of seafoods are ancient practices that may date back to at least the Upper Paleolithic period which dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. Isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of Tianyuan man, a 40,000-year-old modern human from eastern Asia, has shown that he regularly consumed freshwater fish. Archaeology features such as shell middens, discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival and consumed in significant quantities. During this period, most people lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and were, of necessity, constantly on the move. However, where there are early examples of permanent settlements such as those at Lepenski Vir, they are almost always associated with fishing as a major source of food.
Yup'ik cuisine refers to the Inuit and Yup'ik style traditional subsistence food and cuisine of the Yup'ik people from the western and southwestern Alaska. Also known as Cup'ik cuisine for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking Eskimos of Chevak and Cup'ig cuisine for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking Eskimos of Nunivak Island. This cuisine is traditionally based on meat from fish, birds, sea and land mammals, and normally contains high levels of protein. Subsistence foods are generally considered by many to be nutritionally superior superfoods. Yup’ik diet is different from Alaskan Inupiat, Canadian Inuit, and Greenlandic diets. Fish as food are primary food for Yup'ik Eskimos. Both food and fish called neqa in Yup'ik. Food preparation techniques are fermentation and cooking, also uncooked raw. Cooking methods are baking, roasting, barbecuing, frying, smoking, boiling, and steaming. Food preservation methods are mostly drying and less often frozen. Dried fish is usually eaten with seal oil. The ulu or fan-shaped knife is used for cutting up fish, meat, food, and such.