The thousands of lakes in Masuria, the East Prussian rivers and lagoons as well as the Baltic Sea near the coast were extremely rich in fish and the fishing methods were accordingly varied. In the Curonian lagoon, large trawl nets ("Bradden" and "Kurren" yarn) or the funnel-shaped "Keitel" nets were used. In winter so-called "rattling" was carried out with nets under the ice whereby rattling with wooden sticks drove the fish in.
The main fish caught were salmon, cod, herring, flounder, turbot, sprat, smelt, eel, perch, zander, tench, roach, pike, crucian carp and vendace. In the 1930s, around 1,500 fishermen caught around 14,000 tonnes of fish annually in the Curonian lagoon alone.
The catch was mainly used in smoked form for sale at the fish markets in nearby towns. The life of the fishermen was hard and marked by poverty. On the Curonian Spit many of them still spoke "Curonian", a now extinct Latvian dialect.
Illustration:
"Krajebieter" (crow biters) on the Curonian Spit
To spice up their extremely monotonous nutrition, the inhabitants of the Curonian Spit caught hooded crows, usually with baits and nets. They killed the animals by biting into their skull cap, which was considered the simplest method.
Photo: Picture Archive East Prussia
Title quote: Memorandum of the chief inspector of fisheries for the inland waters of East Prussia, 1923