However, in China, the term "prawn" mainly refers to the "sword-headed prawn," also known as the flower tiger prawn or the mottled prawn. Its body surface is yellowish-brown to light brownish-gray, covered with dense grayish-green or dark brown spots. Its rostrum (shrimp spear) only has teeth on the upper edge, making it look like a knife, hence the name "sword-headed prawn."
The prawns are about 10-15 cm long. After cooking, they have clear texture and a chewy mouthfeel.
Most importantly, this type of shrimp can adapt to low-salinity brackish water environments, has strong vitality, and is easy to transport live, which is why it has become widely available on dining tables in later generations.
Prawns like tiger prawns are native marine species. Although they are not difficult to catch, they require specific transportation conditions, making it difficult to find fresh ones.
In later generations, farmed prawns could sell for tens of dollars per kilogram. Ye Cheng's batch is wild, with firmer, more elastic meat and a richer prawn flavor. I believe it will fetch a good price.
It took a lot of time to collect all 50 traps. Ye Cheng didn't know how long it took him to get them all up, as most of the time was spent sorting them.
Finally, I checked the haul: about 20 to 30 jin of tiger prawns, over 100 jin of white shrimp, over 100 jin of mantis shrimp, and two large buckets of whelks and snails.
As for the fish, Shi Jiugong got two baskets, one basket of octopus, plus some miscellaneous fish weighing several dozen kilograms, and more than twenty sea cucumbers, a very bountiful harvest.
After setting up the trap, Ye Cheng refilled their bait with their special bait, then moved to another spot and set the trap down again.
Next is longline fishing, which is done in the same way: use a rope-pulling machine to bring up one end of the line.
Ye Cheng was a little excited about his first time doing longline fishing, but he was disappointed when he pulled up more than a dozen empty hooks.
"Uncle, is your bait any good? Why are you out of stock?" Ye Cheng complained.
Duan Chunsheng remained calm.
"It's normal to catch fish with empty hooks. You're not expecting to catch fish with 100 hooks, are you? You'd be rich!"
"Whether I make a fortune or not is another matter; I'm just afraid of losing face by joining the Air Force."
As soon as Ye Cheng finished speaking, there was a splash on the water's surface, and then a fish was pulled up.
It's not very big, and it has a yellowish tinge.
"Could it be a big yellow croaker?" Xiao Hu was clearly excited and ripped the fish off his shoulder.
However, upon closer inspection, it became immediately clear that it was neither a large yellow croaker nor a small yellow croaker, but a yellow croaker.
Yellow croaker, also known as yellow three, copper croaker, or spring croaker, resembles the small yellow croaker in appearance, with a grayish-orange back and silvery-white belly. It is also about the same size as the small yellow croaker, generally over 20 centimeters long and weighing between half a pound and a pound.
However, the meat quality is much worse. Although it is also shaped like garlic cloves, it is coarser and looser, with a slightly dry texture and a slightly sour taste. It is suitable for braising or marinating and then frying. Naturally, the price is also much cheaper.
"Don't get too excited. Where are you going to find so many big yellow croakers?" Ye Cheng glanced at them and casually tossed them into the basket. This was the only treatment these cheap fish deserved.
With the first one caught, things got better, and soon another yellowfin seabream, also known as yellowfin seabream, came up. This yellowfin seabream was quite large, over 30 centimeters long.
Duan Chunsheng took it and examined it carefully; it felt heavy in his hand.
"Well, the fish are starting to arrive now. I'll get you a grouper in a bit, then you won't be so anxious."
And you know what? After Duan Chunsheng finished speaking, he chuckled.
No!
This longline fishing with 100 hooks only caught 30 fish in total, half of which were yellow croakers and a dozen or so sea bream.
"Uncle, didn't you say you had grouper? Where is it?" Ye Cheng was a little annoyed by the pile of cheap yellow croakers; the whole pile wasn't even worth a single large grouper.
"Oh, Cheng, young man, don't get excited, it'll be here soon."
As Duan Chunsheng spoke, he instructed Xiaohu to start working on the second set of lines. As soon as this set of lines was pulled, Ye Cheng felt something different. The lines were swinging wildly everywhere. With this pulling force, it was clear that there was a large shipment.
Sure enough, a black figure was pulled out – a black sea bream.
"Holy crap, this black sea bream is huge! It must be at least 40 centimeters long!" Duan Chunsheng exclaimed in surprise.
Although black sea bream are common, they are usually only 20-30 centimeters in size. 40 centimeters is really rare. Duan Chunsheng has never seen one that big in all his years.
As soon as Xiao Hu pulled the fish off the ground, the black sea bream began to thrash about. When Xiao Hu tried to hold it down, the fish lashed out with its tail and hit him in the face, making Ye Cheng burst into laughter.
Despite the laughter, they still wanted the fish. The two of them worked together to hold it down, then picked it up and threw it into the tank. It was really strong, and it took them both a bit of effort.
"Uncle, this fish probably weighs seven or eight pounds. Damn, it's so great to have a big catch!" Ye Cheng said happily.
Before he could finish speaking, the fishing line started swinging again, even more violently.
"No way, we don't think another black sea bream this big will come."
However, this time it was red as soon as it came out of the water, so it was obviously not a black sea bream.
"Red grouper, rock grouper, brother!" Little Tiger exclaimed excitedly. Rock grouper is a good, high-end product, and red grouper is an even more premium variety.
This red-spotted fish is about 35 centimeters long and weighs about 3 kilograms; it can fetch a high price.
"No way, grouper aren't as strong as black sea bream, so why is the fishing line moving so much?" Duan Chunsheng said, somewhat puzzled.
His doubts were quickly resolved: another red-spotted fish followed behind the first one. The two large red-spotted fish had bitten the two adjacent hooks, which explained the commotion.
Ye Cheng couldn't stop smiling as he watched the two groupers come up.
"Uncle Duan, grouper! Hahaha, there really is grouper!"
"Stop laughing, hurry up and put it in the water tank, it'll be troublesome if it dies."
As per Duan Chunsheng's request, a lot of ice was added for this voyage to keep the fish as fresh as possible, and these two groupers naturally received the highest level of treatment.
After catching two red-spotted fish, this longline fishing didn't yield any more good catches, except for a few more yellow croakers.
When reeling in the third set of lines, after reeling in a few yellow-legged twigs, the rope started swinging wildly again, indicating a large catch was coming.
The three of them stood on the edge of the deck watching; Little Tiger was a little excited.
"Bro, wouldn't it be awesome if we got a 10-pound grouper?"
"What a load of bull! Big grouper isn't necessarily the tastier the bigger it is. If it's too big, it's cheap. I'd rather have a big red grouper or a red sea bream instead."
A clear shadow appeared beneath the water's surface; it was long, and when it emerged from the water, it was a grayish-white fish.
"Damn, it's not a grouper," Little Tiger said disappointedly.
After saying that, he pointed curiously at the fish and said,
"Brother, look, this fish has two whiskers! What kind of fish is it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com