The first barrel of this year's new herring catch has been auctioned off in Scheveningen for 66,000 euros. The proceeds of the traditional auction in The Hague's seaport will be donated to a child-care charity.

The barrel was sold for 11,000 euros more than last year, which makes each herring in it worth about 1650 euros. The barrel was bought by a group of young entrepreneurs from Harderwijk, the same buyers as in 2008. The auction price is not indicative of the market value, as herring normally sells at about 2 euros each.

The annual Scheveningen fish auction is the traditional opening of the herring season. Herring is seen as a Dutch delicacy. People eat the boned fish raw, holding it by the tail and throwing back their heads to lower the fish into their mouths.

A panel of tasters has given this year's herring the thumbs-up, describing it as "large and fatty", which they ascribe to the beneficial weather conditions over the past few months.