It was still early, so the two steered the Rising Sun to the reef, intending to collect the fish traps and then head back.
It's high tide now, and the water is quite deep. The reefs are below the sea level, and you can't even see their blurry shadows.
The two of them have been here so many times that they are already very familiar with the place, so there is no need to worry about running aground.
Ah-chan slowed down in advance and came to a stop just as he reached the buoy.
Feng Ye bent down and hooked the buoy up. Without any resistance, he easily pulled up the first fish trap.
He slowly pulled the fish trap onto the boat, and inadvertently glanced at it, seeing a small green dragon using its large pincers to grab the fishing net on the side of the trap.
It's quite large, and I estimate it weighs about half a pound.
Feng Ye was overjoyed and was about to call A-Can to bring over the net when, unexpectedly, the little green dragon's pincers loosened, and it fell back into the sea.
"Damn it, can't you just hang in there a little longer?"
Feng Ye was a little exasperated.
This was the first little green dragon of the day, but it ran away.
We haven't seen it in the fish trap yet.
My heart aches.
"What happened?"
Ah-Can turned off the machine and had just stepped out of the driver's seat when he heard it, so he quickly ran over.
"I just saw a small green dragon weighing about half a pound hanging on the net outside the cage, but unfortunately it fell down in a moment of carelessness."
Feng Ye pointed to the sea, his tone tinged with regret.
"What a pity."
Upon hearing this, Ah-Can sighed helplessly and reached out to help pull the cage.
When the first trap was fully revealed to the two of them, their expressions immediately changed from disappointment to surprise, and their eyes shone as they looked inside the trap.
"There are two small green lobsters, a few prawns, and this is... a sea cucumber?"
Ah-chan was overjoyed.
As soon as the fish trap was pulled onto the deck, the two men could see the catch inside quite clearly.
Two small blue arowanas brandished their pincers arrogantly in the fish collection bag, while several prawns jumped around...
What surprised them most were the two dark brown sea cucumbers. They were plump and looked quite substantial, weighing about three ounces each.
Sea cucumber, also known as spiny sea cucumber, sea mouse, or sea cucumber, is a valuable marine animal that has survived on Earth for 600 million years.
There are more than 20 kinds of edible sea cucumbers produced in my country's waters, among which the spiny sea cucumber has the highest nutritional value and is also known as the northern spiny sea cucumber.
Its morphological characteristics are: cylindrical body, 20-40 cm long, with 20 tentacles around the anterior end, 4-6 rows of fleshy spines on the dorsal side, 3 rows of tube feet on the ventral side, and body color of yellowish-brown, blackish-brown, greenish-brown, pure white or grayish-white, etc.
They prefer to inhabit the seabed and rocky reef bottoms where the current is slow and the seaweed is abundant.
Its meat is tender and nutritious, a typical high-protein, low-fat food with a rich and elegant flavor, and is a renowned delicacy.
Sea cucumber, along with bird's nest, abalone, and shark fin, is one of the world's eight most prized delicacies. It often plays a central role in fine dining and is considered one of the souls of Chinese cuisine.
It is not only a precious food, but also a valuable medicinal herb.
According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica Supplement", sea cucumber is sweet and salty in taste, nourishes the kidneys, benefits the essence, controls urination, strengthens yang and treats impotence. Its nature is warm and nourishing, comparable to ginseng, hence the name sea cucumber.
"I didn't expect there to be sea cucumbers! This is a pleasant surprise!"
As Feng Ye spoke happily, he untied the fish collection bag and poured all the seafood inside onto the deck.
As soon as the two little green dragons were pulled out, they crawled all over the deck, looking for a chance to escape.
"These two are quite big, weighing about three ounces each."
Ah-Can reacted quickly, grabbing one of them with each hand, weighing them in his hands, and then carefully placing them into the live water tank.
"This sea cucumber is even better, it weighs about three ounces."
Feng Ye picked up a plump sea cucumber with a delighted expression.
The sea cucumber in his hand is from the northern region, which is much more expensive than the small green dragon.
"I have some too,"
Ah-Can also caught one and said happily, "I've set traps so many times and never got any sea cucumbers, I don't know how I got one this time?"
"It's possible it was already there, but just didn't go into the trap, or maybe it just arrived?"
There are countless things in the sea, and not every single one can be caught.
"These sea cucumbers must have grown for countless years to reach such a size, and their spines are quite thick and strong."
"At least five or six years."
The sea cucumbers in the two people's hands were about the same size, but there were still some differences, which could be seen from their colors.
Although both are dark brown, one has a greenish tint and the other a yellowish tint.
Wild sea cucumbers vary in color depending on where they grow in the sea; some will turn stone-colored when they are on rocks, while others will turn green when they are surrounded by seaweed.
The color is a form of camouflage for sea cucumbers, and it basically matches the color of the reefs or sand in the sea area, so the color is different.
Furthermore, the underwater environment, including turbulent currents, water pressure, and rock friction, causes their spines to vary in length. Since spines are their main tool for foraging, wild sea cucumbers develop very strong spines and feet.
In short, the amount of food a wild sea cucumber forages for, its age, and its living environment all determine the different shapes and sizes of wild sea cucumbers.
Farmed sea cucumbers don't need to forage for themselves, so their spines are long and thin, and weak; also, because they live in the same environment, their shape and size are almost identical.
Therefore, if you see sea cucumbers that look exactly the same from different vendors, then it goes without saying that they are definitely not wild sea cucumbers.
After playing with the sea cucumber in his hands for a while, Feng Ye threw it into a bucket filled with seawater.
Sea cucumbers cannot live without seawater; otherwise, they will become unrecognizable over time.
Because after sea cucumbers leave the seawater, they produce an autolytic enzyme that dissolves them into a liquid, watery state, within 6-7 hours, disappearing without a trace.
There were also some fish, shrimp, and crabs that had been caught along with them on the deck.
There were about ten decent-sized prawns, as well as mantis shrimp, sea bass, tiger prawns, stone crabs...
While these seafoods are not as precious as sea cucumbers, they are still a nice bonus.
Ah-Can was responsible for sorting the seafood and putting it into different baskets according to its type.
Feng Ye continued pulling the cage, anticipating the next surprise.
He grabbed the rope he was standing on again and continued pulling the cage onto the boat.
The second fish trap was quickly pulled up, and several small green dragons were seen crawling around in the fish collection bag, but no sea cucumbers were seen.
"Not bad, there are a few more little green dragons."
Feng Ye couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
These catches weren't as plentiful as the first fish trap, but they were still pretty good.
The traps were empty for a day, which is much better than when they were collected every day before.
The fish collection bag was untied, and many more seafood items were scattered on the deck.
Unfortunately, there are no sea cucumbers in it.
Scattered on the deck were four small green lobsters, five mantis shrimps, one blue crab, two stone crabs, three mantis shrimps, and some other miscellaneous fish.
The sorting work was naturally left to Ah-chan, while he continued collecting the ground cages.
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