In use from at least as early as the 18th century, a cran was a unit that was used to measure landed, uncleaned herring in the North Sea fishing industry. In 1852 it was defined as the equivalent of one standard box, of about 37.5 imperial gallons – typically around 1200 fish, but varying from 700 to 2,500. In metric units it's about 170.5 litres.
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