1983 Small Island, Starting From a Large Farmer

 There are many rules for fishermen to follow when they go out to sea.

 Revere heaven and earth,

 Awe of the sea,

 Revere living beings.

Although there are a lot of fish in the sea, you can’t be greedy and want to catch every fish in the sea.

As traditional old fishermen, my second uncle’s generation had never taken the initiative to hunt this kind of whale shark.

Li Duoyu also heard some past events from his second uncle, eldest uncle, and uncle Zhuang.

 In the past, when there were not so many trawlers, there were many such big fish along the coast. When they were young, that is, in the 1940s and 1950s.

 There are very few fishing boats on Dandan Island, and the one used most is a boat that looks like a wooden basin.

 This kind of barrel boat can easily capsize, so it can only go out to fish when the waves are not big, but only in offshore waters.

 There were very few trawlers at that time, and they often encountered whale sharks when rowing tub boats.

This kind of fish has a very good temper and has no record of hurting anyone. If you feed it small fish, it will even follow you.

At that time, they often fed them small fish, and after luring them to the side of the boat, the second uncle and the others would jump on the back of the whale shark, grab its fins and ride on it.

The whale shark will dive down every time it is ridden, and they will hold their breath and dive down with the whale shark.

When my second uncle was young, since there were no entertainment options, he would ride a whale shark and go diving when he got bored.

Young people in the village even competed to see who could dive deeper on a whale shark, who would be the best.

 The second uncle once boasted.

He said that he once rode a whale shark and dived to a depth of more than 40 meters under the sea. He even said that he saw a sunken ship.

 Because this fish is relatively stupid, local people generally call it big stupid fish or big mouth fish.

The mouth of a whale shark is indeed very large. When fully opened, it is estimated to be as big as half a bed and can completely swallow an adult.

 But besides having a big mouth, which is a bit bluffing, this creature has a very small esophagus and can only eat some small fish and shrimps, even if you stuff a larger mackerel into its mouth.

It will also spit it out directly.

 So even if the fish is stolen by it, the fishermen are not worried at all, because it cannot swallow the valuable fish at all.

The way whale sharks eat fish is also very simple. They first open their mouths, take a big gulp, and then use their gills to expel the seawater.

 With one opening and closing, the small fish in the net can be sucked out.

And the small fish that the whale shark under the net bag eats are anchovies.

It is a kind of sea fish that is cheaper than Balang fish. If the whole net is full of anchovies, the boat boss will probably cry out.

 Because this anchovy is very small.

Each tail is about five to seven centimeters, one size smaller than the Balang fish, and the flesh of this fish is a bit watery.

 After being caught and landed, it rots very quickly, and is also called by fishermen as a fish that rots out of the water, a water fish.

If caught in the summer, it will spoil very quickly, and the purchase price is pitifully low, only about two or three yuan per load (100 kilograms).

 It must be fresh, otherwise it can only be used as fish fertilizer. Even if it is not broken, most of it will become feed fish.

However, this kind of fish is not without merit. Li Duoyu remembers that there was a period of time in later generations when anchovies were quite popular, and there were even specialized companies to collect them.

 They were made into canned anchovies and dried anchovies. Later, with the advancement of packaging technology, they were also made into packages of snacks.

 That’s right, the dried fish in many snack shops on the street are made of this anchovy.

 But in this day and age, if a trawler catches this kind of fish, it will basically lose money. The money it sells may not even be able to earn back the diesel expenses.

However, Li Duoyu likes this kind of anchovy very much because it is very suitable for making fish meal and feeding it to eels.

It’s a pity that this place is too far away from Dandan Island, otherwise we could really consider transporting them all back to Dandan Island.

Although anchovies are small, they are a very important link in the marine life chain.

 Anchovies eat plankton.

 The family Scombrididae and Trevallyidae, including tuna, whale sharks and the like, eat this kind of anchovy.

Some seine fishing boats will deliberately buy some cheap anchovies as bait to attract mackerel and trevally, and then catch them all in one catch.

 Fortunately, apart from anchovies, more than half of the catch in this net was Spanish mackerel, and it was also the best "blue-spotted mackerel".

 Mackerel can be said to be hard currency along the coast. As long as you catch it, someone will definitely take it.

 And the price is pretty good, usually around 20 cents.

 As the price of large yellow croaker has risen in the past two years, the price of Spanish mackerel has also risen a bit. For blue-spotted mackerel like this, a mackerel weighing more than five kilograms can still be sold for more than 30 cents.

And the mackerel in this net weighed at least two thousand catties, even if it was calculated based on the cheapest 2 cents.

 This net also costs 400 yuan.

 For the fishermen, this is definitely a good thing that will make them jump with joy. If Li Duoyu remembers correctly, the last time he went to sea with his third uncle to catch swimming crabs.

It seems that after six days of fishing, I made less than 600 yuan, but now one catch is nearly 400 yuan, and this is the difference.

 And this is their first fishing trip out to sea. This trip was originally scheduled to last for more than half a month.

If you run two websites a day, you can easily earn tens of thousands of yuan in half a month, but Li Duoyu doesn't think it's very possible.

Although there are many fish in the Zhoushan Fishing Ground, it is impossible to encounter several schools of fish in one day.

 On the fishing boat, everyone was watching the whale shark devouring anchovies, but after watching it for a long time, they all felt something was wrong.

This fish looks very big, but I ate it too slowly. It took me more than ten minutes to eat it, and there was no shortage of net bag at all.

 Chen Liang and his father, who were rescued by Li Duoyu before, were also on the fishing boat.

"This fish eats too slowly. With its speed, how long do we have to wait?"

The second uncle smoked a cigarette and replied: "Young people are just frizzy, why are you so anxious? Look at this big fish, it must have a big appetite."

But just as the second uncle finished speaking, the whale shark, which had not eaten many anchovies, seemed to be full and swung its tail and swam away.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ifies.

The second uncle knocked the ashes from his cigarette and said, "I think this fish, which was following the boat just now, has probably eaten a lot."

 Everyone laughed.

Not wanting to discredit him, Li Duoyu also laughed. Whale sharks are slow-moving fish and swim relatively slowly.

 So it does not need to consume a large amount of food like a whale. Under normal circumstances, eating fifty or sixty pounds is enough for it to move for a long time.

Looking at the fish caught in the net, Uncle San, the owner of the boat, also had a headache. His fishing boat was built in the late 1960s and was already quite old.

 The mast is not made of iron, but is made of pine wood. It is nearly twenty years old now.

The mast has been reinforced several times and is covered with iron sheets. When the net was raised just now, the mast made a loud "creaking" sound.

 He ​​felt that if he pulled hard, it would probably break directly. During his fishing career, many crew injuries were related to mast breakage.

Li Zhengfa, the boss of the boat, really didn’t expect to catch so many fish at once. The last time he caught so many fish was more than ten years ago.

At that time, everyone used the method of banging bamboo poles to collectively catch large yellow croakers. The most exaggerated one net exceeded tens of thousands of kilograms.

Li Zhengfa looked at the masts that were all patched, and couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that it's really time to change the ship."

At this time, Li Niantian, who was on the tugboat opposite, shouted: "Zhengfa, if you really can't pull it up, just do what we do when fishing for large yellow croakers and go directly into the sea to pick up the fish. What do you think?"

The second uncle took a puff of cigarette and agreed: "I think it's okay too. We haven't done this for many years. It will give young people a lot of experience."

Uncle Zhuang, who has inconvenient legs and feet, sighed with emotion: "Oh, my legs are inconvenient, otherwise I can go down to fish. I used to go out to fish." "Just cook well, we will do this."

 Following.

 The old fishermen on the boat took out the boat ladder and put it between the two boats to secure the two fishing boats.

 When Li Duoyu saw this scene, he immediately understood what the uncle and the others wanted to do.

 If the net bag is too big to pull up.

 Generally there are only two options, either to cut a small opening in the net bag.

 Leaking and pulling at the same time.

 Either open the mouth of the net directly in the sea and lift people to the net bag to catch fish directly.

However, this approach is very dangerous and requires the tacit cooperation of the crew.

 Next, several old fishermen put on waders, and the younger uncle in the group had a rope tied to his body.

The other end of the rope was on the pulley. As everyone pulled, the third uncle was pulled up, and then the second uncle guided him to directly above the net bag, just like lifting Wia.

 Everyone put down the rope, and Li Zhengfa landed firmly on the net bag, stepping on the net rope and the net surface.

Immediately afterwards, four thick brown ropes were dropped from the fishing boat, and the boat boss Li Zhengfa tied the ropes to the mouth of the net.

As the fishing boats on both sides pulled the brown ropes hard, the net mouth opened, and everyone saw a large group of alive mackerel and anchovies jumping around.

Several mackerel with a strong desire to survive found that after the net mouth was opened, the small motor started to vibrate, and they jumped out with all their strength.

 Seeing fish keep escaping.

Li Zhengfa said anxiously: "Hurry up, two more are coming down. Brother, please give me the basket quickly."

Uncle Li Niantian, who was not tied with a rope, stood directly on the ladder between the two ships and lowered a large basket.

The third uncle directly used the basket to scoop the fish into the net bag. After scooping, he shouted:

 “That’s it, pull it away.”

The crew on the fishing boat, after hearing the signal, pulled the rope directly. When they pulled, the second uncle and the others shouted the trumpet.

 “Hey yo hey, pull it.”

 “Hey yo hey, get up.”

 “Hey yo hey, there are a lot of fish.”

 After the basket was pulled onto the ship from the sea, someone immediately poured the fish in the basket onto the deck.

"Walk!"

 Then he threw the basket back.

The young people on the boat were dumbfounded when they saw this scene. They didn't think that they could do this. They looked at Li Zhengfa who was being beaten back and forth by the waves in the sea.

They realized then that the boss of the ship was not that easy to be.

Seeing the dumbfounded look of those young people, the second uncle scolded them on the spot: "Look at what you are looking for. If there is anything interesting to see, hurry up and sort the fish on the deck."

 “Damn it, if you look at it again, today’s wages will be deducted from you.”

Li Duoyu on the fishing boat was also very surprised when he saw this scene and had to admire them, these old fishermen.

This group of people really has a tacit understanding. The second uncle, the first uncle, and Uncle Zhuang helped pull the rope and controlled the third uncle and others who were fishing on the water.

 To be honest, he really couldn't do this level of cooperation.

This reminded Li Duoyu of how his second uncle and the old men playing four-color cards in the village square often talked about it.

 The happiest time in life was in the 1950s and 1960s.

Then you are full of energy in everything you do, you are not afraid of anything, you solve problems when they arise, and you feel like you can handle it even if the sky falls.

With such tacit cooperation, these old fishermen used this most primitive method to reduce the size of the net bag by at least half.

At this time, the third uncle **** the mouth of the net with a rope again, and then he was pulled onto the fishing boat.

 After returning to the deck of the ship.

 He directly took off his waders and poured out at least ten kilograms of sea water, and also poured out an octopus.

The third uncle grabbed it, threw it heavily on the deck, and cursed:

“Damn it, I just felt like something was wrong. I always felt like something was crawling on me.”

The second uncle smiled and said, "I didn't get in from behind you."

“If I really got in, I definitely wouldn’t tell you and secretly cook it for you to eat.”

 “Damn it, Zhengfa, you’ve never done this kind of thing before.”

 The third uncle, who was soaked all over, returned to the cab, changed into clean clothes, and then picked up the whistle and started blowing.

 “Attention, get ready to set up the net.”

“Newcomers, don’t stand where the net is set up, otherwise they will knock you off later.”

 Sequently, the winch started rolling.

The shaky net bag was finally pulled onto the fishing boat, and the second uncle untied the rope tied to the mouth of the net.

In an instant, two to three thousand kilograms of sea fish poured down and instantly filled the entire deck.

In addition to anchovies and mackerel, there are many other sea fish in the net bag, as well as many sea wolves.

What everyone didn’t expect was that there was a green sea turtle weighing more than 100 kilograms in the net bag.

 After the turtle reached the deck, it turned directly on all fours and could not turn over at all.

After the chef, Uncle Zhuang, saw the turtle, he took out a knife and walked towards it.

 The young crew member thought he was going to kill the turtle directly, but what everyone didn't expect was.

Uncle Zhuang, the chef, turned the turtle over, pried off the barnacles on the turtle's shell with a knife, and then threw it back into the sea with the others, mumbling something.

 “When you go back, call the shrimp soldiers, crab generals, and fish generals.”

It took more than an hour, and everyone finally sorted all the sea fish and washed the deck.

 What gave the ship owner Li Zhengfa a headache was that two to three thousand kilograms of mackerel directly filled the ice tank of his ship.

Under normal circumstances.

 After catching so many fish, they should head to the nearest dock and sell the mackerel.

But this time it was different. They came out with three boats. Li Zhengfa shouted: "Brother, how many kilograms of ice can the ice cabin of your boat hold?"

“The ice cabin I have here can hold about two thousand kilograms.”

 “Duoyu, where is your boat?”

 “My boat can carry more than a thousand kilograms.”

“Okay, I think the weather tonight is not bad, so we won’t go to the dock and rest directly on the sea. When it’s dawn, we can make another net, fill all three boats, and then go back.”

 “Okay, let’s build another network.”

But everyone has another worry. They hope that the next net will not explode again, which is almost enough. They really don’t want to go into the sea to fish for fish again.

At this time, Uncle Zhuang had already started cooking. Originally he wanted to cook fish porridge, but today everyone was doing hard work.

 After thinking about it for a while.

 He decided to steam the mackerel rice tonight. (End of chapter)