The North Atlantic Fisheries, 1100-1976 - University of Hull

Jutland fisheries were at their height, the total output of the west coast
fisheries may have been worth around 60,000 barrels of herrings.
However speculative these calculations are, they seem to correspond
well with the (no less speculative) figures for the Sound. As a means of
control, we may compare the productivity of the fisheries: in 1494, 3,800
fishermen caught 60,000 barrels of herring in the Sound, while 1,800
fishermen caught around 60,000 barrels worth off the county of
Riberhus. One fisherman in the Sound thus caught on average 15.8
barrels, while his West Jutland colleague caught 33 barrels; however, the
West Coast fishermen would have needed as many bait-girls onshore,
thus reducing their productivity, while the related onshore labour force in
the Sound was only 174 gill-girls. More work needs to be done on these
figures, but as they stand they point out some rough measures.
In addition there was a large-scale fishery from Skagen (the Scaw),
though, unfortunately, there is a total lack of research into the history of
this major town which was almost wholly dependent on the fish trade.
By the time of the Nordic Seven Years War (1563-70) we know that
the cod fisheries were actively stimulated throughout the Kingdom in
order to provide cheap and nourishing food for naval crews.
Archaeological and archival evidence of fishing settlements like
Sandhagen and Gilleleje show that they grew rapidly at this time in
response to increased demand. They were, however, relatively small
settlements of no more than a couple of hundred inhabitants.
The Båhuslen Fisheries, 1560-1590
There was one other main source of fish. Danish economic historians
often ignore the fact that Denmark and Norway were united under the
Crown, and Danish fishermen eagerly exploited the opportunity to work
in Norwegian waters. In the 1560s, fishermen from the town of
Helsingør (Elsinore) gathered at the traditional time of the Sound autumn
fisheries and set sail for Norway instead. Along with them came
fishermen from practically all other towns in East Denmark. Quite
possibly, the Sound fisheries by this time were so poor that the fishermen
sought new grounds.
When, from 1562, the Sound Toll Registers allow a quantification of
the goods being sent into the Baltic, they show clearances of 30,000
barrels of herring per year in the 1560s from Dutch ports. Evidently the
Dutch had by then taken over a market which had earlier been filled by
exports from the Sound. But soon the Dutch domination of the Baltic
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