BAY OF FUNDY SURVEY The Smelt Fishery By G. W. Jeffers I. Name It is not at all certain why this excellent little fish came to be called "ameLt.!". At first glance the name appears to be merely a shortening of "smeLf it" from the fact that the fish has a peculiar and characteristic odor. This odor has been compared with that of cucumber or garlic, and hence the name. In Germany it is s aid to be called list inkfisc h II, and we know t hat the European smelt smells so strongly as to be objectionable. Certainly the odor given off by the American smelt is never very noticeable. It has been suggested that the word 'smelt' was first used lIin the sense of smelting metals and was derived from the trans­ parent app ear-anc e of the r i e h.." Then again, it is ¢.fttiifJ'fi claimed that the word comes from the Anglo-Saxon "ameol t " signifying smooth and shiny, in much the same manner that the young salmon ll• is termed a II s mo l t In Norway there are two varieties of smelt - the large smelt, or " s1om", and a smaller one with a more pungent, odor, called "n o r a". In Germany it is called "atan t , seestint, and grosser s t ant". In England it is known as smelt or sparling, and 2 this last name is sometimes met with in Germany also. In Holland it goes under the name %p~f spiering ar spearling. In Denmark it is called' smaelt'; in Finland 'norssi' and knore'; in France , eperlan' ; and in Russia' korjuschka' . 'Smelt' is about the only name given to it in this country, although a few older fishermen frequently refer to it as 8icefisb' or' fro s t f ishr • The name smelt is incorrectly a pplied to a lesser Whitefish, (Argyrosomus o~meriformis), on many lakes in New York state. Likewise, a small minnow (N ~ropis hudsonius) that ranges from the Great lakes to South Carolina, is sometimes called smelt. The scientific name of the common ,s mel t of our Atlantic coasts is Osmerus mordax. Our fish is regarded as a distinct species from that on the Pacmfic coasts (Osmerus ~eatex), and from the European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) Some smelts are permanent residents of fresh water, but these probably belong to t De same species as the common marine smelt. In certain lakes, as for example, La~e Champaain a n d lake Utopia in New Br~~swick, the land-locked smelts are of two kinds, a large variety Which is very little, if any, smaller than the sea form, and a smaller Ki n d which 1s only five or six inches in length. Dr. McGonigle informs me that it has been suggested to him that the large land-locked type are native to \ to the lakes in question whereas the smaller ones have been \ J i n t r od uc e d from hatcheries. These small smelt are matu~r fish. /' In the Miramichi river small smelts are called "b.l anka!". 3 I L .P icture No good on e available See, Kendall "I'ne Smelts II Bigelow and We l ah 4 III. Economic Importance Formerly the smelt was considered of only minor importance as a food fish, and people generally used it a s a fertilizer. For example, in 1867 Knight wrote tl It seems almost an offence to claim for the smelt a relationship with the elite family of the salmonidae; nevertheless naturalists persist in calling it a salmon. II To-day we offer no a,Pology for considering the smelt as a relative of the salmon, for even if very little is ever heard of the smelt fishery this fishery has already attained considerable magnitude. The fish first assumed importc.:..nce in New Jersey and southern New England in the sixtes , but in recent years the co mmercial smelt fishery has gradualiliy receded northwards, and to-day the quantity taken south of Maine is negligible. Canada is t he most important smelt-producing country in the world; about three-fourths of the world's smelts come from Canada and the Miramichi river, in Quebec, l i s responsible for one-third of the total Canadia,n production. JJp r i o r to 1908 the markets of central Canada were supplied from New England. In that year the Department embarked on the policy . ~ of paying one-third of t he express charges on less-than-carload lot shipments from the Atlantic ports. By 1918 the quantity of fresh fish so shipped had increased 300%. About 90,000,000 ibs ' o f fresh fish are annually marketed from the Mi.ritimes. n Can.Fish. In 1914, a record year, 9,038,900 pounds of smelt, valued at $7 13 , 5 0 1 were recorded from the Dominion; in 1923 When the catch was only 5,811,800 pounds the value was considerably greater, being $78 9 , 36 1 . Whe r e a s the bay of Fundy may be considered a fair smelt area ~_ ~.~ tr~-~ I 70 (.~ H.t' f. I r: ,.. <> ~' f " . ~ ~:.--t-7 {'-. 6 IV. Methods of Capture The principal methods of taking smelt are by bag-nets, box-nets, gill-nets, hook-and-line, spearing and by weirs set for sardines. The first two methods, the bag-net and box-net, are restricted to l ar g e rivers that freeze over in the Winter and at the same time have a good run of tide, such as the Miramichi river. Because of the absence of these conditions in the Fundy area bag-nets and box nets are not used. Two or three years ago bay-nets were tried out at Drury cove on the Kennebecasis river, but it was ~ found that they did not pay and so were abandonned. Gill-nets, commonly called smelt nets, are in pretty general use in the Fundy region, particularly in Charlotte county. They are employe~ in the fall and spring When the fish are congregated , } outside the mouths of the rivers. Hook-and-line is the method used after the rivers have frozen over, by simply cutting holes in the ice and fishing through these. When smelting is indulged in for its excellent sport value this is the method par excellane~; the fish not only take bait but will rise to the fly as well. It is interesting to note that Yarmouth county has abolished all other methods of taking smelt, and relies on hook-and-line entirely. This method gives an equal opportunity to all the people, it is less harmful to the fish and less destr­ uctive ~¢/~~~ than gill nets, hence the fish are of a better and more uniform qualityhnd so 'grade' better. This is an excellent ! example of cooperation among fishermen to conserve a really good source of income. The Yarmouth smelt fishery is the most impor­ tant in the Fundy region, and Yarmouth smelt because of their 7 quality always command a good price. The best bait seems to be worms, particularly the sand worm (Nereis) which is dug from the sand flats and are sold locally or else shipped by mail in the frozen state. The price is around twenty-five cents per dozen. Another g ood bait is eel meat which has been colored red by means of a diamond dye. In other sections especially around the bead of the bay beef i6 used for bait. Formerly spearing for smelt was indulged in t u a consider­ able extent, but in general the fishermen have found out that the practice does not pay, particularly if the fish are to be offered for sale, since the appe~rance of the fish plays an important part in the eyes of the consumer. For home consumption smelt are still taken by spearing aroun~ the head of the bay. The type of spear used is shown in t he accompanying diagram. It consists of a wooden handle in one end of which is a stout needle. fWo metal springs, one opposite the other, are attached to the wood enclosing the ~¢¢ needle. These springs are made of the ribs of an umbrella and their purpose is to hold the fish that has been pierced by the neeale until it can be landed on the ice. During t he summer when the sardine weirs are being worked, fair catches of smelt are sometimes made along with the sardines. Technically this is the closed season for smelt, but smelt taken in weirs are not regarded as being captured illegally and so are subject to sale. 8 When the smelt have gathered in the rivers to spawn the dip-net is frequently used for taking them. Occasionally, too, poachers use this method for illega~ fishing in closed seasons. 9 V. Horizontal Distribution in the Fundy Area The distribution of smelt in the Fundy area is presented in figure I This distribution is based upo n the average catch for the five years 1910- 19,1 , the figures being taken from the government statistics. It will be noticed that the smelt, like most of the other commercial fishes, is more concentrated around the mouth af the bay and become scarcer towards the head of the bay. In this latter reBion the published statistics may not give an adaquate idea of the abundance of smelt due to a lack of any substantial p rov i s i on for taking them. Yarmouth county on t he Nova Scotia side of the bay is the most important smelt district, with Charlotte county in New Brunswick a close second.