Eulachon << YOO luh kon >> is a saltwater fish about 9 inches (23 centimeters) long. It lives in the North Pacific from the Bering Sea to central California. From March to May, eulachons swim up rivers to spawn. At that time, the fish are caught with dip nets and seines in shallow parts of certain tributaries of the lower Columbia and Fraser rivers. The eulachon is a popular food fish. Eulachons are also called candlefish because Indigenous (native) peoples of the West Coast used dried eulachons as candles.
