THE RISE OF THE HERRING FISHERIES 133 



to be shot, the space between each net, the time of shooting, as 

 well as the handling of the fish. In the earlier enactments the 

 punishment was loss of life and goods, and the Liibeck merchants 

 were in the habit of bringing their own executioner to execute 

 justice on offending fishermen. No fishermen, except at the risk 

 of his life, could leave for the fishing grounds without his net. 

 Before sailing he had to procure an official permit (tecken) from 

 the bailiff, and on his return he had to furnish a statement of the 

 quantity of herring caught. Failure to comply meant capital 

 punishment. Those were the days for the official collectors of 

 fishery statistics ! 



On the other hand, the curer was compelled to buy the herrings, 

 failure resulted in a fine, and the salted herring were handed over 

 to the fisherman. From the records it appears that a fisherman's 

 life was worth from three to forty marks, that is about the price 

 of a barrel of herring. There was no prohibition of Sunday fishing 

 in the old laws, as early as 1160 the Pope, Alexander III, gave 

 permission to the people on the Germanic coasts to fish for herring 

 on Sundays and holy days, a right which French fishermen pos- 

 sessed till the Revolution. In 1386 the curers complained that the 

 meshes of the nets were too small, with the result that immature 

 herring were taken. Competition was keen, even in those early 

 days of the herring trade, and we read of the curers riding into the 

 water to bargain with the fishermen before the boats reached the 

 land. 



This was eventually prohibited, and no herring were allowed to 

 be sold before sunrise, an official signal being hoisted to inaugurate 

 the sales. The curing lay entirely in the hands of the foreign 

 merchants. In early days the bulk of the fish were made into reds, 

 but even from the first large quantities were pickled. It was 

 illegal to place small or inferior herring in the middle of the barrels, 

 and the fish had to be all salted alike and packed in regular layers. 

 Salting and packing were done by women under the supervision 

 of the curers, and gutting-women (gselne-konner) were employed 

 at least as early as 1494. There was some difficulty in agreeing on 

 the size of a barrel. Those of Liibeck, Rostock and Stralsund were 

 larger than from the smaller towns, small barrels being often made 

 with fraudulent intent. Luneberg salt was preferred, French salt 

 from Baye being considered inferior. In early times herring were 

 sent direct to England and Flanders (i.e. as sea-sticks), but the 

 vast majority were sent to the Hanseatic towns to be sorted and 

 repacked in barrels specially stamped by sworn markers (herinck- 

 wracker). The complicated marks and brands were burnt in on 

 the barrel. Full herring were distinguished from spents, and those 



