Herrings and split and placed in brine for a short time and then hung from frames on tenterhooks and loaded into kilns for smoking over hardwood chips. Kilns may hold as many as 30,000 pairs. Peel herrings, and herrings smoked there, are said to be the best. Manx kippers may not be dyed. Herring fishing has always been a vital contributor to the economy of the Isle of Man, with both the Lord of Man and the Church having rights to shares of the catch in the 13th Century. From the 16th Century herring were exported and both salted and smoked herring were sent in huge quantities to the plantations of America and the West Indies for the slaves.
