the aggregation of herring in the sound may have been the main reason and motivation for the first settlements around the sound and herring fishery has since become a central part of the cultural heritage of the area the historian saxo grammaticus already described this fishery back in the early middle ages and the richness of this ecosystem service was emphasised with anecdotal descriptions of how people caught herring with their bare hands the nutritious herring preserved by salting sustained food security both locally and regionally through export to the baltic sea region in all seasons the danish kings moved their residence from its old location in roskilde to the shores of the sound in copenhagen in