"My dad used to smoke fish all the time when I was a kid," said Shele Tofte in a recent interview. "Mostly salmon. I grew up eating it."

Shele and her husband, Harley, own Dockside Fish Market in Grand Marais. Dockside opened in 1998. Recently they added fish and chips, made from local herring, whitefish, or walleye, to their menu.

Dockside is one of a half-dozen or so North Shore smoked fish businesses. Others include Mel’s Fish in Knife River, Lou’s Fish and Superior’s Choice Fish Company in Two Harbors, and the Northern Waters Smokehaus in Duluth. July, August, and September are the busiest months for Dockside Fish Market, but the market is open from mid-April to the end of December. Most North Shore smoked fish businesses operate on a similar schedule.

Dockside is unique in the respect that they catch most of the fish they smoke themselves. They import non-local species like halibut, tuna, and Alaskan salmon.

"What’s your least favorite part of the smoked fish business?" I asked Shele.

"Paying bills," she said. "The fish part isn’t so bad. But Harley does most of that. It’s the rest of it – remembering to order this, order that, pay the bills – all that stuff."

Harley Tofte, a commercial fisherman, catches whitefish, herring, and lake trout in Lake Superior. Those fish go from the lake to the store in three days.

First, Harley soaks them in homemade brown-sugar brine for twelve hours. The soaking process, paradoxically, draws moisture out of the fish. This is due to the sugar and salt in the brine.

"This combination of reduced moisture and salt inhibits the growth of spoilage bacteria," writes chef and cookbook author Jay Harlow, "a basic principle of all cured meats."

After the soaking, Harley rinses the fish and lets them dry. A "shiny, slightly tacky skin," as Harley describes it, forms over the flesh of each fish. It’s called the "pellicle," and it prevents spoilage and helps retain moisture and flavor.

After the pellicles form, Harley lays the fish on racks or hangs them from hooks in the smokehouse, where they cure over a smoldering sugar maple wood fire for seven or eight hours. The brine, the kind of wood that makes the smoke, and the species of the fish determine the flavor of the final product.

Smoked fish is versatile. Shele likes it with crackers and Merlot cheddar; she also suggests crumbling it in salads and making sandwiches with it.

"What," I asked to top off the interview, "is your favorite part of the smoked fish business?"