The Danish fisheries c.1450-1800. Medieval and early modern ...

fishery. In early March 1564 they were catching cod in the Sound. 20 Archaeology
demonstrates that relatively new fishing settlements boomed as a result of this demand, and
long lining spread throughout the country. 21 A full investigation of the estate records will not
only permit us to detail this picture but also to gain a fuller insight into the interplay between
the cod and the herring fishery which so far dominates our understanding of the development
of the Danish medieval and early modern fishery.
The Bornholm Fishery
On the Baltic island of Bornholm, the annual tax lists of the crown’s estate are preserved from
1597 until 1660 except for a few years, and in most years herring and cod fishermen are
noted. From 1597 to 1612 the tax records are quite detailed, and it is not only possible to add
up the amount of paid fish but also to establish the size of the contribution from the various
sites along the entire Bornholm coastline. According to the accounts every man had to pay 50-
100 tax-herring to participate in the herring fishery. An appendix to the tax list of 1607 says
that 105 people payed tax herring (told-sild), salted herring in barrels, that year. The cod
fishery was equally taxed by persons as tax cod (told-torsk) in the form of dried cod. After
1609 the payment of both herring and cod was made salted and barrelled. It was no longer a
tax by persons but a constant duty on the rent of farms near the coast. However, the fact that
the peasants were relieved from paying the duty in poor years allows us to use it as a rough
indicator of the fishing effort.
20 Kanc Brev 1561-65, 13/3 1564.
21 Kulturhistorisk Leksikon, vide Krogfiskeri; S. Frandsen, De nordsjællandske fiskerlejer.
Bygd 1987, 2-6. Berg, H., Bender Jørgensen, L. og Mortensøn, O., Sandhagen. Et
langelandsk fiskerleje fra renaissancen (Rudkøbing 1981).