A buckling is a form of hot-smoked herring similar to the kipper and the bloater. The head and guts are removed but the roe or milt remain. They may be eaten hot or cold.

The name comes from the German word bückling or the Swedish böckling, both words denoting a type of hot-smoked herring and is a reference to its bad smell reminiscent of the smell of a buck.

All three are types of smoked herring. Bucklings are hot-smoked whole; bloaters are cold-smoked whole; kippers are split, gutted and then cold-smoked.