THE RISE OF THE HERRING FISHERIES 141 



Barrels of Herring 



Germany 



The first attempt of the Germans on the herring fishery was made 

 in 1770, when six vessels sent from Emden to the coast of Scotland 

 returned with 130 lasts of herring.^ The number of these vessels 

 increased so that in 1782 they amounted to thirty-four, but it does 

 not appear that this fishery ever acquired any importance, and 

 nearly one hundred years elapsed before the Germans renewed 

 their attempts to capture the herring markets. 



Cured or pickled herring has for some considerable time been a 

 staple food of the industrial classes in Germany and Central Europe. 

 There is evidence that this was the case as early as the middle of 

 the fourteenth century ; at any rate, a regulation was made in 

 1569 in Wiirtemberg to the effect that the grocers and provision 

 merchants of Stuttgart shall provide themselves with a good supply 

 of herring, and retail the same at five heller apiece, so that the 

 poorer classes shall not lack sufficient food. ^ 



The recent history of the German herring fishery is of particular 

 interest, since it was originated in 1872 with the avowed object of 

 capturing the home market for cured herring. In that year a 

 company was started at Emden with a capital of £21,000. They 

 purchased from a Vlaardingen firm, whose head was a German by 

 birth, six luggers of the newest construction, and the crews and 

 management were both Dutch. 



In addition, the company obtained substantial advantages from 

 the Government, but in spite of this and with a protective tariff 

 and an immense national market behind them, it was many years 

 before any real progress was made. The difficulties were great, 



' Bloch, Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands, Erster Theil, p. 262. 



' von Scherzer, Das wirtschaftliche Leben der Volker, Leipzig, 1885, p. 439. 



