Capelin

The capelin or caplin is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf.

Capelin is a forage fish used for fishmeal and oil but also eaten, with flesh like herring. Its roe, called masago, is a high-value product in Japan and a common substitute for tobiko.

The capelin is a small marine smelt of the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic oceans. It feeds in dense plankton swarms near the ice edge in summer and spawns on sand and gravel bottoms or sandy beaches, where people in Newfoundland and Quebec scoop it up in nets.