189: Big turtle

Amidst laughter and chatter, the group finished their late-night snack. Zheng Tie cleaned up the dishes and table, while the others began hauling in the net.

As the winch turned, the warp line was slowly pulled up. Ten-odd minutes later, the net bag was hoisted onto the deck by the crane.

“This…”

“It doesn't seem like much!”

Looking at the not-so-full net bag, the group mumbled. It was the lightest catch they had made on this trip out to sea.

“This net probably only has about a ton. If it were on another fishing boat, that would be considered pretty good!”

Seeing that the group's expressions didn't seem too good, Bai Dahai generously said,

“The main thing is what kind of goods they are? What if it's a ton of Large Yellow Croaker? Hahaha!”

After speaking, he himself laughed. These words comforted everyone, and also comforted him.

“I'll open it,” Bai Dahai grabbed the net bag's rope and pulled hard.

The net bag opened, and “Pa pa pa!” a few Crabs and a few shrimp fell out. Together, they didn't even weigh ten jin.

Everyone looked bewildered, seeing that the net bag seemed to be blocked by something.

“It's not Tuna again, is it?”

Everyone thought to themselves, with a little bit of anticipation.

The crane arm paused up and down. Besides two Crabs, nothing else fell out.

“Holy cow, is it really a Tuna blocking it?”

Chen Dong said.

“Hard to say. You all stand back a bit first and see what kind of fellow it is.”

The crane thumped heavily three or four more times. Besides a few mantis shrimp, nothing else fell out.

“Everyone, step back a bit. I'll poke it and see what it is.”

Chen Zhongwei came over with a gaff hook, ready to poke it down.

Just as the gaff hook hadn't even touched the net bag, a “Kuang” sound was heard, and a large object heavily smashed onto the deck.

Everyone looked and saw that it was a giant sea turtle, weighing at least a hundred jin.

Subsequently, a lot of seafood spilled out of the net bag with a clatter.

“It's okay, it's a big sea turtle.”

Only then did everyone let out a long sigh of relief and relax.

“What a big sea turtle! If we took it home, we could eat it for many days.”

Zheng Tie couldn't help but exclaim.

“Isn't that illegal?”

Yang Limin said with some hesitation.

“Don't talk nonsense. Sea turtles are protected animals; you can't catch them.”

Chen Dong explained to the two,

“Even before it was a protected animal, we fishermen wouldn't eat it.”

“It's very spiritual. People by the sea are very particular. In the past, if we fishermen accidentally caught it, we would take it back and raise it well.”

“We would invite a master to choose an auspicious day, pave the way with money, and send it back to the sea completely unharmed.”

“When releasing it, there would be gongs and drums, and firecrackers. Anyone watching would scatter some money on it, as a prayer and a wish, to bless their families for safe voyages and full catches.”

“So, do we have to take it back and then release it now?”

Asking when he didn't understand, this was Zheng Tie's good habit.

“Not now. We'll release it directly later! Now that it's a protected animal, if we take it back and someone reports us, we'll have no way to defend ourselves.”

“Oh!” Zheng Jin finally understood.

“Let's speed up sorting the fish. Although the quantity isn't too much, they are basically all good goods, like Spotted Grouper! They cost 1000 yuan per jin.”

“We'll talk about the sea turtle later.”

Bai Dahai interrupted their conversation and urged them.

“Ah! Spotted Grouper, is it that expensive?”

Zheng Tie immediately sobered up when he heard about the 1000 yuan fish.

The Spotted Grouper, scientific name Lutjanus stellatus, also known as rock perch, flower face, yellow-fin, white-spot, etc., belongs to the order Perciformes, family Lutjanidae.

Its body is elongated and oval, with a purplish-brown base color and white spots on the dorsal side, and characteristic blue lines from the snout to the gill cover.

The body color changes between day and night.

As an important marine economic fish, its yellow fins and delicious flesh make it a primary target for coastal fishing. However, overfishing has led to the decline of wild resources.

Wild Spotted Grouper, as a rare and high-end seafood, is a coveted item for major star-rated hotels.

As the saying goes, the rarer it is, the more expensive it is; the more expensive it is, the rarer it is.

The market purchase price of Spotted Grouper is very high, ranging from 500 yuan to over 1000 yuan per jin, depending on the size of the fish and regional differences.

It is the most expensive of all snapper species.

Due to the strong resemblance between Lutjanus stellatus and other fish of the Lutjanidae family,

many inexperienced anglers mistake it for an ordinary snapper and sell it to merchants for a few tens of yuan per jin.

These merchants then directly resell it to high-end hotels, turning a profit of tens of thousands of yuan.

Sorting over a thousand jin of Spotted Grouper was still quite fast. The group quickly placed the Spotted Grouper in a small live fish tank. Such high-value fish certainly deserved private room treatment.

The remaining Crabs and sea shrimp were also separately housed. Of course, some seafood smashed by the sea turtle was directly shoveled into the sea.

Some Crabs with broken legs couldn't fetch a good price and were set aside to be eaten by themselves.

After dealing with the seafood, everyone's attention returned to the sea turtle. Although caught, this sea turtle appeared extremely docile, quietly lying on the deck.

Bai Dahai walked over and carefully checked the sea turtle's condition, finding that it was unharmed.

“Let's release it quickly, don't let it be scared here,” Bai Dahai said.

Everyone responded, “One, two, three!”

The group worked together to lift the sea turtle to the side of the boat.

The moment the sea turtle touched the seawater, it seemed to regain its vitality, paddling its limbs and quickly swimming towards the deep sea.

Watching the sea turtle's receding figure, everyone felt a little emotional.

“I hope it will be safe and sound in the future,”

Zheng Tie said softly.

“Yes, this counts as us doing a good deed. I hope it can bless us with safety and a bountiful harvest.”

Chen Dong responded with a smile.

After releasing the sea turtle, everyone reorganized the deck, preparing for the next catch.

At this moment, a light sea breeze blew, and the boat moved slowly on the sea. Everyone was full of anticipation for the upcoming harvest.

At this time, under the searchlights of the fishing boat, faint points of light flickered.

“Hey! What are these things?”

Zheng Tie pointed to the sea and asked.

“Oh! They're baby Squid.”

Everyone immediately became interested. Baby Squid has thin, tender, and smooth flesh, high water content, suitable for quick stir-frying, blanching, or sashimi, and its ink is edible and contains antioxidants.

Bai Dahai looked around the fishing boat, at the dense schools of baby Squid, and announced loudly:

“One net bag per person! We'll scoop for an hour. Whatever you catch is yours, whether you eat it yourself or sell it for money, you can handle it however you like.”

Everyone cheered loudly, each looking for a net bag and a foam box.

Baby Squid belongs to the small shortfin Squids. Its body is short, stout, and round, with shorter tentacles, and is covered with luminous organs. Its body color changes with light (transparent, golden yellow, dark red).