Smelt was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 9th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative Joseph Bryan.
In Hamburg the district name of Stintfang ("smelt catch") indicates this, and in Lüneburg a row of pubs and restaurants, the Stintmarkt, is named after the fish.
Hypomesus japonicus, the Japanese smelt, a coastal fish species of the northwestern Pacific ocean
Hypomesus pretiosus, or surf smelt, is a marine smelt with a range from Prince William Sound, Alaska to Long Beach, California, although its population declines south of San Francisco.
Bordering the east shore of Lake Ogawara, the town had an agriculture-based economy based on production of rice, tobacco, carrots as well as lake fish, including smelt, icefish and shijimi.
48 forms (species and infraspecific taxa) of fish have been encountered in the lake, including roach, carp bream, zander, European perch, ruffe, endemic variety of smelt, two varieties of Coregonus albula (vendace), eight varieties of Coregonus lavaretus, a number of other Salmonidae as well as, albeit rarely, endangered European sea sturgeon.
There has also been a subsequent introduction of smelt (Retropinnidae species) as a food for the trout.
In the Russian River SMCA, the taking of all living marine resources is prohibited, except the recreational and commercial trapping of Dungeness crab and the taking of Hypomesus pretiosus (surf smelt) by hand-held dip nets or beach nets.
Like most smelt-whitings, the stout whiting is a schooling species, occasionally associating with S. vitttata, S. burrus and S. bassensis in southern Western Australia and with S. flindersi in southern Queensland.
The economy of Tōhoku is heavily dependent on an agriculture, based primarily on production of nagaimo, daikon and carrots as well as lake fish, including smelt, icefish and shijimi.
Food traditionally gathered from the Waitotara River include kakahi (fresh water mussels), tuna (eels), whitebait, smelt, flounder, and sole.