"It's a pity it's filefish, not yellow croaker."
Looking at the mountain of fish on the deck, Ah-Can felt a little regretful.
That's right, the vast majority of the catch consisted of filefish, with only a few small yellow croakers and other seafood.
Many people know about filefish, but many may not have heard of its scientific name – greenfin filefish.
It is a fish belonging to the family Monoceratoides and the genus Triplophysa. Its body is relatively flattened and elongated oval, resembling a horse's face.
It is also known as the green-finned pufferfish because its second dorsal fin, pectoral fin, and anal fin are all green.
It is called "peeled fish" because its skin is as rough as sandpaper and cannot be eaten directly; it must be peeled off before cooking.
In addition, this thing has many other names, such as horse-faced fish, rubber fish, leatherworker's knife, bread fish, skinning fish, dizzy fish, and mole fish, etc.
"The filefish is not bad either, it's not much cheaper than the small yellow croaker."
"That's right, the price of small yellow croaker has dropped, while the price of filefish hasn't dropped much."
Ah-chan finally realized what was happening.
Normally, filefish are much cheaper than yellow croaker, selling for only five or six cents a pound.
However, it is currently the flood season, and the catch of small yellow croaker is too large, causing the price to drop sharply.
However, the season for filefish has not yet arrived, and it will be about a month from now. For the time being, the catch is relatively small, and the price is relatively stable.
"I remember filefish was 52 cents a pound, right?"
Feng Ye was a little unsure.
Yesterday, in addition to small yellow croaker, they also caught many other kinds of seafood, but no filefish.
He found out the price at the dock, but he didn't remember it well; he only had a vague recollection.
"That's right, it's 52 cents."
Ah-chan, however, said it with great certainty.
"Not bad, it's only six cents cheaper than the small yellow croaker."
"Hmm, with this many, selling them for over a thousand shouldn't be a problem. Haha, we're rich..."
Feng Ye laughed along with A-Can.
The value of this net could be half of yesterday's entire day's harvest.
After the two men tidied up the net and put it back down, Ah-Can took a few fish and went to make breakfast, while Feng-Ye stayed on the deck to sort them.
Although there were some other fish mixed in, they were easy to distinguish and sorted out much faster than yesterday's small yellow croakers.
Moreover, filefish are larger, averaging eight or nine ounces each, making them easier to distinguish.
In the short time it took Ah-Can to make breakfast, he had sorted out nearly ten baskets of filefish.
After quickly finishing breakfast and having a cigarette, the two continued working.
Despite the large number of fish, they were sorted quickly and processed before the next net was hauled in.
The filefish filled 44 baskets, each weighing about 55 jin (22.5 catties) after skinning, meaning there were more than 2,400 jin (1,200 kg) of filefish.
In addition, there were more than two baskets of small yellow croaker, weighing over 100 jin, and other miscellaneous goods weighing over 200 jin.
All in all, the net weighed an astonishing 2,700 jin (approximately 1,850 kg).
Although it's just an estimate and not very accurate, it shouldn't be too far off.
Both of them were so happy they couldn't stop smiling.
Too many!
Feng Jialing was equally delighted upon hearing the news.
Even more excitingly, the second network also crashed.
Although it wasn't as extreme as the first net, there were still nearly 900 kilograms of goods.
There were also some filefish, probably fish that escaped from the previous net, but the quantity was small; most of them were small yellow croakers.
Feng Ye did not sort this net; he went to the wheelhouse to steer the boat, and Feng Jialing took over the sorting.
After casting the next net, Ah-Can would take over steering the boat, and the three of them would take turns so that they wouldn't bend over so much.
After switching to small yellow croaker as the main catch, the situation returned to yesterday, with some fish always left over from each net that couldn't be sorted.
The three of them were tired but happy.
...
When you're busy, time flies by, and before you know it, it's past 3 p.m.
They've already hauled in six nets today and are preparing to cast one more before heading to Changgu Island to sell their fish.
The harvest from the next four nets was also quite good, ranging from five or six hundred catties to seven or eight hundred catties.
This time, it was Feng Ye and A-Can's turn to sort the catch on the deck.
"Brother Ye, look at those two boats, something seems off about them."
Suddenly, Ah-chan pointed to the sea to his left and asked curiously.
Feng Ye looked up and saw that there were two boats, one large and one small, standing very close together, almost touching.
"Something's not right. It looks like the big ship is bullying the small ship."
Feng Ye couldn't help but frown.
Is the sea around here not peaceful either?
"Not necessarily. It's possible that there are more people on the small boat, and the larger group can bully the smaller one."
"It is possible, but the probability is not high."
The two watched for a while, then stopped paying much attention.
They're new here and don't know the situation, so it's best they don't meddle.
Moreover, among so many fishing boats around, not a single one came forward; they were all busy with their own fishing.
After a while, when Feng Ye looked up again, the two boats had already separated.
The larger fishing boat simply sped away, passing right by them.
Even from a short distance, he could see the joyful smiles of the people on the boat.
The other boat, however, remained stationary, not moving.
"Was it robbed?" Ah-Can said.
Feng Ye nodded: "I guess so."
Should we lend a hand?
"Let's wait and see. There are so many ships nearby, and two of them are even closer. We shouldn't need to take action."
"That's true."
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