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 both commercially using nets at sea, and for recreation by hand-netting them or 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 to include pan-frying in flour and butter, or deep-frying in batter, and they are sometimes cooked directly out of the water over small stoves in the shacks. Canada 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. Since smelts can be found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as some freshwater lakes across the country (Canada); hence, smelts were eaten by many different native peoples who had access to them. One popular way First Nations of the Pacific coast made dried smelts more appealing was to serve it with oil. 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". Today, there are numerous recipes and methods of preparing and cooking smelts. A popular First Nations recipe involving the removal of all the fishes' bones, canola or peanut oil for frying, along with a breaded-like coating that's mixed with lemon juice and grated parmesan cheese (with a few other basic ingredients) to coat the smelts just prior to frying