FISHERIES AND MARINE SERVICE Translation Series No. 4334 ...

In this classification into groups we differentiate between
heavily and less heavily salted herrings. These differences are most
markedly expressed in the salt content of the herring meat: heavily
salted herrings exhibit a minimum of 20% salt in the tissue fluid of
the fish, while mild ones (according to former Regulation No. 83
these were labelled "mildly salted") must contain less than 20% table
salt in the tissue fluid.
According to the classification commonly used for salted herrings,
whole and shotten herrings are well salted. Due to their sensitivity
towards large amounts of table salt, considerably less salt is generally
used for fat herrings with delicate meat. The commonly used amounts of
salt therefore result (independent of the composition of the fish meat
and particularly independent of the fat content) in two groups of very
different salt herrings which can be recognized already by their labels.
IsKept mild" are "mild whole herrings" and "Matjes herrings". These do
not differ greatly in the salt content of the tissue fluid but rather
in the degree of sexual maturity. The differences which exist between
heavily salted herrings and Matjes herrings are shown by the examples
contained in the Handbuch der Fischkonservierung (Handbook of Fish Pre-
servation) by 0. Wille (2).
Designation Salt Herring Matjes Herring
Salt content in the fish meat in%
Water content in the fish meat in %
Salt content in the tissue fluid in %
Table 1
Salt and water content in herring meat (2)
6