134 THE SEA FISHERIES 



from Scania from those caught further up the coast at Marstrand ; 

 each great Hansa town, Liibeck, Dantzig, Stettin, had its own 

 special brands 



The best class were stamped on the bottom, the inferior on the 

 bilge. Selection, sorting and packing were thoroughly performed, 

 there being no less than ten district brands for the Scania fish alone, 

 almost everything affecting the quality or condition of the fish 

 being indicated on the outside of the barrel. The result of this was 

 that the Scania fish captured the market until the Dutch herring 

 drove them out. Even after the Great Dutch Herring Fishery 

 had become established the Scanian fish were preferred, and in 

 1418 the curers at Kampen (Zuidersee) were compelled to fly a 

 red flag at their yards when they were curing other than Scania 

 herring, so that buyers might not be deceived. Scania herring were 

 sent all over Europe, east to Russia as far as Novgorod, to Prussia 

 and Poland ; west to France, England and Holland, and south to 

 Silesia, Moravia and Bohemia. In France in the fourteenth century 

 barrelled herring from Scania were the only kind officially recog- 

 nised by the " gardes du metier," others being classed as " herens 

 contreffais " or counterfeit. In England as early as 1400 the 

 Hansards annually presented the Lord Mayor of London two 

 barrels of Scania herring. In 1449 the sale of herring was pro- 

 hibited before the arrival of the Scanian merchants. In 1437 

 fourteen barrels, " allecum salsorum de Scone," were bought at 

 Leith for the King of Scotland, for which £18 i8s. were paid. 

 The price of Scania herring at Stettin from 1395 to 1443 

 varied from 6s. to 44s. per barrel. 



Sweden 



The chief Swedish fishery is for winter herring in the northern 

 Cattegat and the eastern Skager-Rack, and is generally carried on 

 nearer the Danish than the Swedish coasts. It commences m 

 November and ends in mid-February. In the season 1912-13 the 

 catch amounted to about 861,420 cwt., value £205,555. 



Although Sweden is not an important country for cured herrmg, 

 ct6 000 barrels of herring were salted in Bohuslan during the season 

 ending mid-February, 1913. and of these 14,000 barrels were 

 exported to Germany and 20,000 to Russia. The Bohuslan winter 

 herring fishery depends largely on the purse seine, mtroduced from 

 the United States, where it is used for the capture of mackerel. 

 This net can now be used either from the shore or m the 

 open sea. 



