60 THE FISHING INDUSTRY 



hundred drifters lying, bow on, alongside the fish wharf 

 for about 2| miles, all unloading fish as fast as they can. 



A good day's catch would consist of about 90 crans. 

 A good catch, therefore, would average about 100,000 

 herrings, and would weigh about 13 tons. Some boats 

 come in with as many as 160 crans of fish, and the 

 total " cranage " for a day may exceed 30,000. The 

 total catch for Yarmouth on a good day would be about 

 30,000,000 herrings, weighing about 4,000 tons. 



Sometimes when the catch has been poor, the 

 drifters remain out on the fishing grounds for another 

 day, rather than come home with a small catch. In 

 this case, the two catches are kept separate, the first 

 catch being called " overdays." Overdays are worth 

 about half the price of fresh fish and are, of course, less 

 suitable for high grade curing. 



After it has been purchased by the curer, the fresh 

 herring may develop into a salted herring, a red herring, 

 a bloater, or a kipper, depending upon the degree of 

 salting and smoking to which it is subjected. Herrings 

 are sometimes put into cold storage, to be withdrawn sub- 

 sequently as occasion demands, either to be salted or, 

 more frequently, to be consumed fresh. Cold storage 

 affords a convenient method of preserving herrings 

 when there is a glut, for at such times it is often impossible 

 to deal with the herrings adequately in the ordinary 

 curing yards. 



Salted Herrings. The fresh herrings are delivered 

 to the curer 's yards. Here, the fish are emptied into 

 broad, shallow troughs, which generally run from end 

 to end of the yard. The troughs are about 4 ft. wide, 

 and are generally made of wood and arranged at a 

 convenient working height. Usually, the trough is 

 situated just inside the boundary wall, and the fish are 

 delivered into it through large openings in the wall. 



