273: Revisiting Dongsha

Among the Grouper, there are fish like the Green Grouper that Yang Qi and his crew frequently catch in the East Sea, along with oily Grouper varieties.

Although it is not easy for wild ones to appear in large batches, many fishermen can still catch them, and they are often available in the market.

Furthermore, many marine fish have already been successfully farmed, including various types of Grouper, such as the most common Green Grouper, as well as the well-known Turbot and Sea Bass.

Many precious fish species have also begun to be farmed, such as the East Star Grouper and Large Yellow Croaker, and even some hybrid fish have appeared.

In coastal areas, wild fish like the Tiger Grouper and black edge goatfish are truly rare now.

As for the pure wild East Star Grouper, Mouse Grouper, Large Yellow Croaker, and others, they are truly too few, almost to the point of extinction.

That is why their prices are so expensive; "rarity breeds value" is an eternal maxim.

Many people believe that Grouper in the sea are relatively expensive fish, but in fact, many other species, such as the black edge goatfish, Grouper Fish, Three-knife Fish, Big-eye Chicken, Stonefish, and others, are not Grouper.

They are not Grouper, but their prices are considerably higher than common Grouper.

Many fish in the sea have some sort of "relative" relationship; some belong to the same genus but different families.

Just like this black edge goatfish, hearing its name, you know it is related to Sea Bass, but they share the same genus but different fate; the price difference is about tenfold.

Also, the Big-eye Chicken and Blackfish are "relatives" of the Black Sea Bream, though their names do not suggest any relationship.

Many fish in the sea have this kind of relationship, mainly because there are simply too many species of fish in the ocean, but relatives are relatives, and their prices differ greatly.

The most typical example is the Large Yellow Croaker and small yellow croaker; the unit price of wild Large Yellow Croaker is in the tens of thousands, while the small yellow croaker is priced in units of yuan.

There are also Golden Pomfret and Silver Pomfret; how would someone who has never been to the seaside know that the unit price for Golden Pomfret is only ten or twenty yuan per catty.

However, the price of Silver Pomfret is many times higher, comparable to the Red Seed Fish.

Those who do not know often feel the prices of the two should be reversed, which is due to being misled by their names.

In fact, Yang Qi sometimes feels that the more he learns about marine fish, the more complicated the subject seems.

Many fish look alike but are different species, and their prices vary widely.

Sometimes he is glad to have the company of Bai Xue, a professional, as well as Chen Tianming, and previously Yu Dafu and the others.

Although it might be due to Zhang Jun, at least they did not try to deceive him when buying fish.

Overall, he is still very lucky, meeting the right people at the right time.

The three continued to bait their hooks and fish, and sure enough, they successively caught several black edge goatfish.

Yang Qi cast his bait toward the large Green Grouper every time, but strangely, even though the big Green Grouper swam around the bait, it refused to bite the hook.

They did catch four or five black edge goatfish, along with some Sea Bream, red head fish, Mackerel, and so on. Yang Qi was so frustrated he wanted to grab a speargun and dive down to shoot it.

"Yang Qi, time to eat."

Yao Shanshan's voice came from behind him.

Yang Qi turned around and saw Yao Shanshan carrying a plate of steamed black edge goatfish; he quickly stepped forward to help set up the table.

"Be careful not to burn yourself. I can handle this."

Yao Shanshan refused Yang Qi's attempt to take the plate.

The remaining half of the giant Sea Bass from noon was made into braised fish slices. The Red-spotted Grouper was used to make a fish soup; the rich broth was so fragrant and sweet it felt sticky to the mouth.

Before eating the rice, everyone had a bowl of fish soup, which made Yao Shanshan and Bai Xue squint their eyes and exclaim how satisfying it was.

After Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan cleaned up, the three lay on beach chairs chatting, mostly with the two women sharing funny stories from school and work. Yang Qi simply kept his mouth shut and acted as a spectator.

Around eleven o'clock that evening, Yang Qi piloted the "setting sail," approaching the Pratas Island sea area.

In the image displayed by the Golden Finger, the fish schools gradually grew larger, finally arriving near Beiwei Shoal.

Both the South and North Shoals of Pratas Island are covered with visible and hidden reefs, which is the terrain marine life prefers most.

After Yang Qi stopped the boat, he instructed the two women to deploy the traps and longlines.

He did not dare let the two women steer the boat, as only he could perfectly avoid all the hidden reefs.

It must be said that Yao Shanshan is indeed very intelligent, even though she had never dealt with these things before.

Under Bai Xue's instruction, after following along a few times, she could operate everything skillfully on her own.

Under these circumstances, the two quickly placed the equipment into the sea. Meanwhile, Yang Qi turned the searchlight on the "setting sail" to its brightest setting.

Everywhere the light reached, the dazzling beam attracted countless marine creatures rushing towards the "setting sail."

"Change to large hooks and use live fish as bait."

Following Yang Qi's command, the two women loudly replied in unison:

"Understood, change to large hooks, use live bait."

After speaking, the two exchanged smiles. It turned out that after a few times, Yao Shanshan had specifically asked Bai Xue.

She learned this was to let Yang Qi know that she had clearly heard his command and was executing it, avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings.

So, at this moment, she instinctively followed suit. Moreover, after changing the hooks several times, she could now operate skillfully.

Yang Qi switched to a large hook, baited it with a Mackerel, and cast it into the sea; a fish weighing less than dozens of catties would simply not be able to swallow this large hook.

Fortunately, this is Pratas Island, where fish weighing dozens of catties are everywhere.

In less than ten minutes, they had a bite, and Yao Shanshan was the first to hook a fish. Seeing the bend in her fishing rod, Yang Qi knew the fish would not exceed 60 catties.

Yang Qi also saw it; it was a Mahi-Mahi weighing about thirty catties.

"Shanshan, don't panic. Just focus on the drag."

Seeing that Yao Shanshan was clearly nervous, Yang Qi comforted her.

"Okay, I understand."

Sure enough, under his soothing words, Yao Shanshan visibly calmed down.

She tried hard to recall Yang Qi's actions after catching the large fish that morning. If she did not know what to do, she might as well copy him.

Not long after, Bai Xue also hooked a fish. Yang Qi saw that it was a Yellowfin Tuna weighing over eighty catties.

The one he hooked was also a Yellowfin Tuna weighing over sixty catties. Not bad.

"Wow! My fish is so beautiful! It must be very expensive, right?"

Yao Shanshan lifted the Mahi-Mahi in her hands. It must be said that the brightly colored Mahi-Mahi is indeed very attractive.

She looked at Yang Qi excitedly and asked.

"Hmm... this is a Mahi-Mahi."

Yang Qi said slowly; he seemed a little embarrassed to explain, afraid of dampening her enthusiasm.

"Mahi-Mahi, hmm, what a vivid name. Since it looks so good, how much is it worth?"

Yao Shanshan continued to ask.