Herring season has started: The Dutch are eating 75 million
Herring
Netherlands
Published Jun 16, 2021
Tridge summary
No fewer than 75 million herrings will slide into Dutch fishing enthusiasts during the herring season in the coming months. The traditional kick-off will take place on Tuesday in The Hague, where the first keg of Hollandse Nieuwe is offered to the GGD as a tribute to the vaccination staff. The Dutch are fond of herring. They eat an average of four to five per person, and that's just the herrings that are sold as Hollandse Nieuwe between now and the end of September.
Original content
A multiple of this is sold after the season, when the fish is no longer allowed to be called Hollandse Nieuwe and is given the name buddy herring. Some are also processed into roll mops or salt herring, for example, or used in salads. Not all herring stays in the Netherlands. The Germans (90 million) and the Belgians (15 million) also like it. Normally, the herring season starts with an auction of the first keg, but due to the pandemic, it was decided for the second year in a row to cancel the auction and offer the keg to healthcare workers. This year the GGD was chosen because of their central role in vaccinating against COVID-19. The coronavirus also had an effect on fishing, or rather, on fishermen. They mainly get their catch in the waters around Norway and Denmark, but on arrival they first had to quarantine for two weeks. "And it was strict. They were called three times a day by the government to inform them of their current location," says Agnes Leewis of the Dutch Fish ...
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