Dozens of dead fish ended up on the banks of Sauvie Island over the weekend, causing a smell and quite a stir.

One Portland reddit user called it the “Sauvie Island Fish Massacre,” but Jessica Sall, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the washed up smelt, or eulachon, are a healthy sign.

“This is a natural phenomenon,” she said. “We don’t have any reason to believe that anything unnatural occurred.”

Smelt fish live out most of their lives in saltwater and can live as long as six years. Like salmon, the small fish return to freshwater to spawn before dying. After a few years with low returns, the endangered fish seems to be making a comeback.

Sall said the smelt may be washing up in areas that haven’t seen this kind of thing in a while.

“This is a consequence of a healthy population, or a healthy return,” she said.

Sall said from 2010 to 2013, so few fish made it back to spawn that ODFW held off from the annual dipping, where people can catch smelt in nets during designated weekends. Last year, Sall said ODFW hosted three events on the Sandy River. This year, you’ll be able to dip for smelt on March 7 and 15.

“It’s so simple because you’re dipping for them,” said Sall, explaining that you don’t need a fishing license to participate.

And the fish don’t necessarily have to be caught for eating either. According to NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, the smelt’s body during spawning is 15 percent fat. So if you catch, dry and stick a wick in it, you can burn the fish like a candle. However, NOAA doesn’t say what this “candle” smells like.