Gibbing is the process of preparing salt herring (or soused herring), in which the gills and part of the gullet are removed from the fish, eliminating any bitter taste. The liver and pancreas are left in the fish during the salt-curing process because they release enzymes essential for flavor. The fish is then cured in a barrel with one part salt to 20 herring. Today many variations and local preferences exist on this process.

The process of gibbing was invented by Willem Beuckelszoon (aka Willem Beuckelsz, William Buckels or William Buckelsson), a 14th century Zealand Fisherman. The invention of this fish preservation technique led to the Dutch becoming a seafaring power.

Sometime between 1380 and 1386, William Buckels of Biervliet ("Beer Creek") in Zeeland discovered that "salt fish will keep, and that fish that can be kept can be packed and can be exported".

Buckels' invention of gibbing created an export industry for salt herring that was monopolized by the Dutch. They began to build ships and eventually moved from trading in herring to colonizing and the Dutch Empire.