HERRING. Under the head of herring fisheries may be considered all the clupeiform fishes, such as shad, herring, alewife, sardine, and menhaden.
The true herring, or sea herring (Clupea haren gus). is undoubtedly the most important food liah in existence, although in the United States its importance is much less than that of many other species. The total annual catch for the world has been estimated at about 1,500,000,000 pounds, the greater part of which is taken in Norway. The annual catch in the New England States is about 55,000,000 pounds, with a first value to the fisherman of $350,000. The herring are prinei pally taken with seines. gill-nets, and weirs. They appear in the markets in three principal forms, namely, fresh, pickled, and smoked. In the United States there are annually frozen about 25,000,000 herring, with a market value of about $300,000. About one-third of these are used as bait for cod; the remainder are con sumed as fresh food. They thus afford an ex cellent fresh-fish food at seasons when other fresh fish are difficult to get. The quantity of herring prepared in pickle is greater than that of all other species combined. Over 3,000,000 barrels is the annualrproduct for the world, of whielt only 30,000 barrels are now prepared in the United States, a quantity much exceeded in former years. They appear in the markets in
two principal forms—`round' and 'split.' In the former they are salted without the removal of gills, and viscera, while in the latter they are eviscerated. The annual production in the United States of smoked herring in various forms is valued at about $285,000. They are prepared for the markets as 'bard' or 'red' herring and `bloater' herring, the latter being a form and term used Ina inly in England, and originating chiefly at Yarmouth. The former dilTer from the latter in being subjected to the smoke at. a lower temperature and for three or four weeks, while the latter are smoked at a comparatively high temperature. and only for two and a half to six days. The bloaters do not have the keep ing qualities of the hard herring. In Maine young herring are extensively canned as sardines. In spite of the great increase in the herring fish eries and the enormous quantities annually taken, the abundance of the species has not perceptibly diminished.