439: A bumper harvest of king salmon

As soon as Bai Xue saw the King Salmon, she explained that these fish had to be bled and preserved immediately.

So now, while Yang Qi was reeling in the net, taking the fish off, and throwing them onto the deck, Bai Xue crouched on the deck, picked one up, lifted its gill cover, stabbed it with a knife, and tossed it into the Live Well without a second thought.

The location of the blood vessels in King Salmon is the same as in yellowtail amberjack, concentrated in the gills.

All you need to do is lift the gill cover, stab it once, and then throw it into a bucket or the Live Well.

A salmon with injured gills will swim faster, causing the blood to flow out more quickly.

Once the blood is fully drained, they are all fished out and stored in the Freezer Hold.

Because King Salmon have very strict requirements for water quality and temperature. If not bled, they will die quickly even if kept in the Live Well.

The final two four-hundred-meter Gillnets yielded a total of 385 large-scaled salmon. That basket of Longline Fishing gear was somewhat disappointing, catching only 53.

In total, over four hundred King Salmon, a harvest of more than ten thousand jin. This was roughly about one-sixth of the total King Salmon school they had encountered earlier.

By the time the two of them had finished bleeding all the King Salmon and storing them in the Freezer Hold, they were stumped again.

No reason!

It was simply because the Freezer Hold was full once more!

This was even considering that those Tuna weren't very large. Otherwise, with ten Tuna, plus those Red seabream, and now these King Salmon, it might not have been possible to fit them all.

This couldn't help but make Yang Qi and Bai Xue bare their teeth in frustration, and they couldn't help but think fondly of that scientific research vessel again.

It seemed the "setting sail" currently couldn't keep up with their pace anymore.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue were experiencing a bittersweet mix of pain and joy!

And this was only the first day in the Pacific Ocean! There were still countless fish schools here, waiting for them to catch.

Actually, most fish in the ocean cannot be kept alive after being caught; most have to go into the Freezer Hold.

They couldn't very well throw away the fish in the Freezer Hold just to go catch other fish.

In Yang Qi's view, those miscellaneous fish, roughly a hundred or so jin, could be used for chumming, which was his original plan anyway.

The next cheapest were those Red seabream, but they were still worth eighty or ninety yuan per jin! That's not considered cheap fish anymore.

If they hadn't caught them, that would be one thing. But now that they had already caught several hundred jin, Yang Qi, as a proper fisherman, didn't think he could bring himself to throw them back into the sea.

"Forget it, we'll fish for one more day, then head back! We'll just have to come back later when we're piloting the 'explorer'!"

Yang Qi finally made the decision.

By now, the sun was setting in the west, dusk once again.

Today, from getting up at dawn to retrieve the Longline Fishing gear and crab traps, then sailing around looking for fish schools, and then encountering the King Salmon school...

Finally, dealing with the King Salmon until now, there had been virtually no free time at all, except for taking turns eating some frozen dumplings at noon.

They hadn't eaten a single grain of rice all afternoon and were now so hungry their stomachs were sticking to their backs.

The two of them first re-baited and lowered the Longline Fishing gear back into the sea. They definitely couldn't set the crab traps here, as the water depth had reached around 1200 meters.

Afterward, Yang Qi and Bai Xue went together to the kitchen to prepare dinner. The flying fish caught in the Diaoyu Islands waters a couple of days ago were said to taste pretty good; they had to try it.

They definitely had to try King Salmon sashimi too. Braised assorted Crab, steamed Red seabream would also be on the menu, along with a stir-fried Coconut Shell Snail.

Add in the stewed lamb and stir-fried greens brought from home, that should be enough for the two of them. Done!

On the deck, two tables were pushed together, laden with a full spread of dishes. Yang Qi and Bai Xue opened a bottle of red wine.

The first meal in the Pacific Ocean began!

The water here was too deep to drop anchor because the anchor chain wasn't that long; it wouldn't reach the bottom even if let down.

And on the open ocean, the wind and waves were stronger than in the East China Sea or South China Sea. The two of them could feel the "setting sail" swaying slightly even while sitting and eating.

This phenomenon was completely different from inland seas.

Worried that the "setting sail" might drift who-knows-where after a night, and for safety's sake, Yang Qi decided to sail westward for two hours.

During this time, they encountered a Beltfish school and a Sardine school. Yang Qi had no choice but to actively give up on them.

At a location 50 nautical miles south of Chiwei Islet, Yang Qi stopped the fishing boat. The water depth here was around a hundred meters or so.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue immediately lowered the crab traps. Finding a nearby area with reefs, they decided to see if they could catch some fish.

Bai Xue's idea was that if there were good fish species, they'd catch a few more; if they were all cheap species, they'd rest early.

But Yang Qi already knew there were quite a few Grouper below. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stopped the boat here.

He just couldn't say it outright; he'd have to wait until Bai Xue caught some herself to find out.

Each of them manned an Electric Reel, placing their chairs in the middle. They chatted while fishing, each with a cup of coffee, aiming for a relaxed fishing session.

"Got one!"

At this moment, Yang Qi noticed his rod trembling slightly; it seemed a fish had bitten. He stood up and, in a few quick steps, pressed the retrieve switch.

Simultaneously, however, he used his Supernatural Ability to check. Sure enough, it was a Grouper. A gold coin grouper weighing about four jin.

But when the Grouper was reeled up, he noticed its swim bladder was already protruding slightly from its mouth, though not excessively.

Yang Qi picked up a needle and pricked the swim bladder. As a puff of gas was released, the swim bladder visibly deflated.

After stuffing the swim bladder back in, he placed the fish in a live fish tank. Sure enough, the gold coin grouper gradually regained its vitality, apparently having adjusted to the water pressure.

He waited a few more minutes and, seeing no further issues with the gold coin grouper, knew it was fine. He scooped it up again and tossed it into the Live Well.

After all, the water depth was only about forty meters. The Electric Reel retrieving at a steady speed didn't cause much harm to deep-water fish.

Especially for larger fish, which naturally have stronger pulling power. The stalemate between fish and reel meant the fish rose quite slowly.

For fish with swim bladder damage, as long as you puncture the swim bladder to release the gas, there's a good chance of recovery.

Of course, there would inevitably be some fish with damage too severe to survive. That was just unavoidable.

Yang Qi re-baited his hook, cast it back into the sea, and then went to the Freezer Hold to bring out the last box of frozen bait.

He chopped it all into chunks and threw it into the sea as chum. The nearby Grouper swarmed over, gathering in greater and greater numbers.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue also started catching fish continuously. On Yang Qi's suggestion, they both switched to fishing with string hooks. The rate of catching fish became non-stop.

From then on, every cast hooked three or four fish. The vast majority of the fish were kept in the Live Well.

Only less than one-tenth of the fish were beyond saving once reeled up. Additionally, some fish that were inherently difficult to keep alive ultimately had to be stuffed into the Freezer Hold.

Because the two of them kept catching fish non-stop, their original plan to fish for a few hours and then rest was abandoned. They ended up fishing until 2 a.m. before finally stopping to rest.