Chapter 1267: Radar Net Hairtail

Ye Yaodong took advantage of his father being home to go out to sea with Uncle Zheng for two consecutive nights, and he mastered the radar net skill on the boat.

Other fishing boats also took advantage of this two-day break to take a few people out to sea to learn.

After discussing it, everyone agreed to rest a bit more before heading out to sea together.

However, when he got up and pushed the door open, he felt the wind was a bit off today, as if it carried the scent of a typhoon.

He asked casually and learned that there really was another typhoon; many fishing boats had returned to Huigang one after another to rest that morning, so they could no longer set out as planned.

Ye Yaodong looked up at the bright sun in the sky and had to give up; they would have to wait until after the typhoon to go out to sea.

Fearing the typhoon would last several days, he sent someone out to chop firewood, went to buy some coal balls himself, and bought back more melons, vegetables, and meat.

However, he had gotten up a bit late; by the time he arrived, all the stalls at the entrance of the morning market's agricultural trade market had been swept clean, leaving only rotten vegetable leaves on the ground, let alone any meat, which was completely gone.

Normally, if he went at 8 o'clock, the market would still be full of vegetables to pick from, and vegetable farmers from the countryside usually wouldn't finish selling until noon.

Today was truly exaggerated.

He could only go back first and tell his father to get up early tomorrow to buy more.

His father had come out to buy things as usual this morning, but he thought they should stock up more for a typhoon, so he ran another trip.

On the way, seeing people crowding around to buy things, he wanted to go up and see what was being sold, thinking he would buy a little of anything edible.

It turned out they were selling coarse salt, and the crowd had already snatched it all up.

"Tsk tsk tsk... truly exaggerated, even salt is being snatched..."

"During a typhoon, everything sells well..."

Ye Yaodong stretched his neck to take a couple of looks, made a couple of "tsk" sounds, and had to return with empty hands.

Fishermen from other boats, having nothing to do, were also playing cards in the empty space in front of their doors, all talking about the typhoon while everyone was there frantically snatching up goods.

Things they normally wouldn't dare to buy, they were willing to buy during a typhoon.

Today was just the beginning; before the wind even blew or rain fell, food had already been snatched up.

Everyone said city people were afraid of having money but no goods to buy.

This typhoon was probably just passing through; for four or five consecutive days the sun was blazing, with no rain to speak of and barely any wind, only the sunset reflecting red on the horizon each evening could show traces of the typhoon.

Ye Yaodong went to the dock every day to check the waves and the condition of the fishing boats.

Basically, all fishing boats had returned to Huigang; the dock was divided into sections, with tens of thousands of fishing boats of all sizes moored there. Having been here for nearly half a month, this was the first time he had seen so many boats and such an empty dock.

"Empty" was only relative; in fact, people still came and going as usual, everyone spreading news that the typhoon had passed, cheering as they headed toward their daily lives, and they would probably be able to set out to sea at night or in the early morning.

It was still only morning, but by noon, a loudspeaker on the dock announced loudly that the typhoon had passed.

The dock immediately came alive again; everyone was busy refueling and adding ice, preparing to set out to sea immediately.

Most were foreign fishing boats; one day not out to sea meant one day of loss.

After hearing the news, Ye Yaodong joined everyone in lining up to refuel and add ice.

He had booked to depart after dinner, which perfectly avoided the peak periods of the afternoon, night, and the next morning.

After refueling and adding ice in the afternoon, he saw the sea surface was in chaos.

Most fishing boats rushed out in a swarm immediately; with over a thousand boats moving, collisions were inevitable, the order on the sea surface was disrupted, several accidents occurred, and the entire sea surface was in disarray.

Just like a traffic jam on land caused by an accident, the sea was also jammed and paralyzed for a long time.

He was glad he hadn't been impatient.

It wasn't until nightfall that the fishing boats on the sea surface gradually left the port, and order was finally restored.

Even during dinner, he still heard that throughout the entire afternoon, many gunshots had echoed over the sea surface.

Ye Yaodong's father and others, who had just returned to shore these past few days, had their understanding of the chaos at the dock completely refreshed and redefined.

However, no matter how they tried to avoid it, there were still many people when they set out, and they could only slowly drive away from the shore in a queue.

Fortunately, after the chaotic afternoon, it was only a slight delay now, and several fishing boats successfully got out.

Ye Yaodong piloted the fishing boat behind the Fengshou Hao, and the other few boats did the same.

Ye Yaodong's father had already discussed with Pei's father that this time, since Ye's father would stay home and let Ye Yaodong go out, Pei's father would drive the Fengshou Hao to lead the other few boats.

Next time, they would switch to Ye's father.

The two elders would take turns; there must always be one at sea for them to feel at ease, especially in unfamiliar places and waters.

After these few days, the two elders had even more experience, so taking turns going out to sea provided relatively better safety.

For this trip out to sea, Ye Yaodong also brought the large trawl net.

They definitely wouldn't return the same day; if the radar net catch was unsatisfactory, they could turn around and use the trawl net, so they wouldn't have to stubbornly persist at sea or have to return.

After all, it really wasn't yet the Fishing season for hairtail, and the timing was still early.

While they were sailing at sea, the crew was also organizing the fishing nets so they could deploy them directly upon reaching the destination.

They had no experience knowing which waters had more hairtail, and there were no detectors on the boat, so they could only sail a bit further out along the positions where Uncle Zheng and his crew usually fished, but still within the near-sea range.

Because hairtail generally live at depths of 50 to 100 meters; although they aren't considered deep-sea fish, they do have some deep-sea fish habits.

When hairtail are rapidly fished ashore, the external air pressure decreases while the internal pressure remains high.

The extreme pressure difference causes oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases in the blood of the hairtail to precipitate out of their organs and tissues, blocking blood circulation and even causing organ rupture, leading to the death of the hairtail (commonly known as "decompression sickness").

That is why many hairtail seen in the market have their internal organs bursting out.

Several fishing boats moved forward continuously, and flashing lights from fishing boats could be seen everywhere along the way.

Only when they saw fishing boats nearby using radar nets to catch hairtail did they confer, then separate, and begin fishing in the nearby area first.

Fortunately, the resources in this area were abundant; as they traveled, they could see fishing boats intermittently, and in the same waters, multiple fishing boats did not affect the catch.

Ye Yaodong found a good spot, slowed down, and then notified the crew to deploy the nets.

Having taken turns going out to sea for nearly half a month, they all knew how to do it.

He also stood on the deck watching the pre-organized fishing nets; under the faint orange light, they began releasing from one side of the boat, simultaneously deploying buoys and floats to gradually spread the net and sink it to the predetermined depth.

At the very bottom of the fishing net, a large iron anchor was fixed to the seabed; one end connected to the anchor, the other to the net, with a 360-degree rotating component at the connection point, and floats on top, so the net would rotate according to the currents.

After all the nets were set, Ye Yaodong returned to the cabin, controlling the fishing boat to move slowly and steadily in a circle, simulating a radar scan.

The purpose of this was to form a gradually expanding circular or spiral enclosure in the water with the fishing nets, thereby driving and concentrating the fish into the nets.

It is also called the sail-inflation net; once the water rises, the fish-collecting bags are emptied, then returned to the sea. After the tide recedes, the nets are hauled up and emptied again, then returned to the sea.

This cycle repeats endlessly: four tides a day, rising and setting by day, rising and setting by night.

This fishing method is very rare; the specific operations rely entirely on the fishermen's experience and skill. It can only be used for hairtail, and only then can the hairtail with the meatiest flesh be caught.

Furthermore, the hairtail caught are mostly small-eyed hairtail, also called oil hairtail—fat, oily, and tender—which is why they are slightly more expensive than other hairtail.

The crew had just come out; it was not yet time to sleep, so they stood curiously on the deck watching and chatting.

This group of workers, after arriving, stayed on shore with Ye Yaodong; some only went out with the fresh-fish collection boat to gather one haul. They hadn't set nets for quite a long time.

Everyone was not sleepy at the moment, watching while talking and laughing.

"There's no need to go far here; there's plenty of catch in the near waters..."

"There are so many boats, all so concentrated. In our area, in the same sea zone, you can't see a single boat. Here, you can see five or six lights at a glance; look again, and there are five or six new ones..."

"Otherwise, how could it be called a fishing ground? I've never seen so many boats in my life..."

"That's true..."

"I wonder how much hairtail we can bring up."

"... So many small silver fish are jumping there... Even the small fish look more numerous than in our area..."

Everyone stretched their necks to look out from the boat; wherever a boat's light shone, there was a pile of silvery-white small fish jumping about.

Ye Yaodong watched the group talking and laughing on the deck while he focused solely on steering the boat in a similar circular motion.

For this trip out to sea, it took them two hours to set the nets, and only about two hours remained until the tide receded.

He waited for a little over two hours, sensing from experience that the tide had receded enough, before going to notify everyone to haul up the nets.

Everyone knew that nets must be hauled and set according to the rising and falling tides, so they waited on the deck.

Just as this net was hauled up, those who needed to rest could go and rest.

Ye Yaodong stopped the boat's rotation, held its position steady, and began to slowly lift the fishing net.

As the bottom of the net gradually rose, the fish inside fell into the fish-collecting bags and slowly floated up from beneath the water's surface.

"Oh... it's coming up... quite a lot. Only two hours, and there are already several thousand jin."

"It's all hairtail, with a bit of small yellow croaker and miscellaneous fish. This net must have four or five thousand jin, right?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've seen it many times, but every time I think it's beautiful..."

"Too beautiful. These hairtail are shimmering with silver light just as they emerge from the water."

"Yes, the scales are truly beautiful; some even glow with a blue light..."

Ye Yaodong also watched the hoisted net with great joy. The catch was indeed substantial, and it consisted mostly of large fish and small yellow croaker, all good quality.

Although the radar net is said to be specifically for catching hairtail, the net does not necessarily contain only hairtail; other miscellaneous fish can also be caught in it.

The hairtail brought up were silvery-white all over, with some scales faintly glowing blue, carrying a slight metallic luster.

They were far more beautiful than the dead ones already on shore.

Furthermore, some inside the net were still struggling, but by the time the net was moved onto the deck, they were all dead.

At this moment, the crew also began to move, adjusting the gear to further shrink the space, causing the fish to gather more tightly together.

Then, pulling the fish-collecting bags, they transferred them onto the deck.

Untying the ropes at the entrance, the entire net of hairtail and small yellow croaker was tilted onto the deck.

Ye Yaodong, who had been watching the net being hauled up from the wheelhouse, went down to take a look and said with a smile, "This net has caught both gold and silver in one sweep."

"Eh? You really weren't wrong; this is yellow and silver..."

This net was truly a net of gold and a net of silver, living up to the fishing net song.

The gold was the shimmering color of the small yellow croaker; the silver was the silvery-white light reflected by the scales on the hairtail.

It was truly beautiful.

The scent of fresh fish cargo wafted toward them.

The fishing ground in Zhoushan is indeed dominated by the four major economic fish species; with one net haul, the small yellow croaker were only slightly fewer than the hairtail, and miscellaneous fish were very scarce.

Usually, dragging a net at home results in useless miscellaneous fish taking up more than half; even with good luck, they make up half. Here, however, these valuable catches are more abundant.

No wonder the other three major economic fish species no longer form a Fishing season. The large yellow croaker is nearly extinct. Only the hairtail, due to its habits and long-term publicity and fishing moratoriums, has survived and maintained its Fishing season.

Ye Yaodong estimated that the catch from this net was around 3,000 jin. The quantity was not large, but it still counted as a bountiful harvest.

Hairtail made up the majority, small yellow croaker were slightly fewer, and there were also some pomfret and eels, but not much miscellaneous fish.

Although it couldn't compare to the quantity caught by trawling, since they were performing circular motion rather than towing operations while sailing on the sea surface, the quality of the fish cargo was far superior to trawling.

He held a flashlight in one hand and sorted through the catch with the other, picking and choosing.

"Radar net hairtail" is much "uglier" than other hairtail, such as line-caught hairtail, because hairtail are impatient; once caught, they struggle violently.

Consequently, their skin is easily "scraped off," resulting in scale loss and white patches.

However, the "uglier" the hairtail, the tastier it might be; the fallen white flesh is proof of their vitality.

But generally, when buying fish, people definitely want to pick the ones that look beautiful and intact. This kind of scraped hairtail, or those with burst bellies, cannot be sold at a good price.

"They've all been scraped, and their bellies have burst. You guys sort them out."

"Understood. There's really a lot of hairtail late at night, much more than during the day. Let's hurry and set the nets down again."

Ye Yaodong nodded, first lowering the net, then those who needed rest went to rest, while the remaining people continued sorting.

In a day, there are two rising tides and two falling tides. Unlike trawling, the radar net only requires hauling and setting the nets four times a day.

He didn't understand the principle, and Uncle Zheng couldn't explain it clearly either; anyway, the locals did it this way, so they learned and did the same.

By the next rising tide, the sky had brightened. The catch from this net was even greater, double that of the previous one, and everyone was delighted.

Originally, after sorting the fish cargo for several hours, everyone was somewhat tired, but suddenly they were energized again.

"This net is full of goods..."

"This net took a long time to haul, so naturally there's more cargo..."

"It's a bumper harvest; our boat is big, the custom-made fishing net is big too, and the quantity is far greater than Old Zheng's..."

"It's dawn; wake the others up in a bit to help..."

Ye Yaodong watched excitedly; this damn thing didn't need to wait until the fishing season to yield such quantities?

In his past life, he'd seen boats dedicated to catching hairtail; even during the fishing season, they were only like this.

He sighed, "Indeed, resources are abundant in this era. The future's grandeur won't even compare to the current daily routine; we're just picking up what this era discards."

After sighing, he went below to swap with Chen Chen Laoqi for his shift, letting him operate the fishing boat. They rotated shifts every two nets; he needed to go to sleep soon anyway.

However, seeing the deck piled high with cargo, he couldn't bear to return to the hold just yet; he had to help a bit.

"How much will this net sell for? So much; it took two lifts of the fish-collecting bag to empty all the cargo."

"I'd say five or six thousand. It's like a small mountain, far more than the first net..."

"No wonder they use such a large net specifically for hairtail; they all look like oil hairtail."

In their dialect, they call it oil hairtail; it's equivalent to the radar-net hairtail here. The names differ, but it's the same species of hairtail.

Hairtail is divided into black-scaled and white-scaled. White-scaled hairtail is rich in oil and delicious; black-scaled hairtail tastes far worse.

White-scaled hairtail can be further divided into multiple grades; the highest grade is the radar-net hairtail, which they call oil hairtail.

The eyes of this hairtail are smaller than ordinary hairtail, so locals here also call it small-eye hairtail; it is fatter and more succulent than ordinary hairtail.

Ye Yaodong sorted through them and said, "While it's fresh, fry a few to eat later; it goes perfectly with breakfast."

"They're already fried; once the porridge cools down, we can eat."

"I already had a piece just now. The meat is very thick, even larger than the oil hairtail back home, very fresh and tender."

Ye Yaodong felt hungry just hearing them; they were bored down below, yet managed to cook a pot of seafood, chatting while gnawing on it, and he hadn't had time to go down to get any.

"I'll go eat first."

On this boat, you can't guarantee anything else, but the food is excellent. As long as it's seafood caught, you can cook whatever you want without worrying about value, except for particularly expensive delicacies.

Ordinary workers generally have a sense of propriety, knowing what can be eaten and what must be sold for money.

After filling his stomach, Ye Yaodong stretched, watched the sun emerge from the hiding clouds, handed the work over to the others, and went to rest first.

By the time the next net was hauled up, he had just woken up.

However, the daytime catch wasn't as abundant as the second net. Although they were hauled up after roughly the same time in the sea, the quantity was only about two-thirds, with the reduction mainly in hairtail.

The main habit of hairtail is to be active at night; they constantly move between deep and shallow water layers on a day-night cycle.

Therefore, night is the prime time for catching hairtail; they've risen to the shallow layers and are more active.

The cargo brought up during the day had some treats too, but was mainly small yellow croaker, along with pomfret, eel, black carp, water gu fish, barracuda, and so on.

Everyone wasn't too disappointed; they had experience and knew this already.

But this net's harvest wasn't low either; small yellow croaker made up half. After sorting out and discarding useless miscellaneous items, about 3,000 jin of sellable goods remained.

After checking the cargo from the noon haul, Ye Yaodong went up to the cockpit and asked Chen Chen Laoqi.

"Did you ask about the catch status of the other fishing nets?"

"Hehe, they asked us this morning; everyone said theirs was quite good, with plenty of cargo, and they don't plan to move spots."

"That's good too; staying in this area is fine. We won't have to run too far; it should take about three hours to return."

Chen Chen Laoqi hesitated and said, "You say we don't need to run far now; will they just head ashore to sell their cargo themselves? After all, it's more convenient, the distance isn't far now, and the catch is plentiful; selling it themselves upon return might be more profitable."

Ye Yaodong thought about it; indeed, that was very possible.

"Wait until they bring it up; if they don't mention it, we don't need to worry."

"Hehe, I just thought of that point, so I mentioned it."

"Thanks. Go eat and rest; I'll keep watch."

Ye Yaodong entered the cockpit to take over the circular motion, his mind already working things out.

After a quick calculation, considering the harvest from these nets, the next haul would likely be around sunset, probably yielding roughly the same as this one.

This equates to a full day of tides; after four hauls, the day's earnings might reach 1,600 or 1,700, or even 1,700 to 1,800 yuan per boat, which equals the earnings of a trawler in a day and a half.

The quantity isn't as high, but mainly because the cargo hauled up is valuable.

If half were deducted from him, it would mean the fresh-fish collection boat would deduct nearly 1,700 to 1,800 yuan in one go. For them, that would indeed be unprofitable; it would be better to dock and sell once every two days, then head out again.

The round-trip fuel cost is at most 200 yuan, and the lost half-day of time isn't worth the amount deducted; indeed, returning to sell the cargo is worthwhile.

Previously, with trawling, the fresh-fish collection boat would deduct only about a thousand yuan per trip; now it's equivalent to deducting several hundred yuan extra for nothing.

If it were him, he would also prefer to sell the cargo himself. Forget about relatives or brothers; everyone is risking their lives to earn money, so naturally, they want to keep the money in their own pockets.

Ye Yaodong was pondering that he needed to discuss the ratio with the other boats again, aiming for a ratio beneficial to everyone.

His fresh-fish collection boat wouldn't be idle then, and everyone could stay at sea more while the weather is good, earning more money.

Mainly, this is for the upcoming fishing season. If they can earn this much now, let alone during the more concentrated fishing season, they will definitely earn even more than now.

However, since no one has brought it up yet, he figured his father would likely sail out to collect the cargo the day after tomorrow. At that time, this boat would temporarily be handed over to his father for operations, while he would handle weighing the cargo.

He would also chat with a few boats to adjust the ratio.

They definitely have thoughts; no one is a fool. They just haven't realized it yet or felt awkward saying it; they will definitely bring it up when collecting the cargo.

Letting others bring it up is worse than being sensible and bringing it up proactively oneself.

His fresh-fish collection boat is indeed much more convenient than other people's fresh-fish collection boats.

The several boats connected to other fresh-fish collection boats don't necessarily sail out at the same time, nor do they necessarily sell their cargo at roughly the same time, and certainly not in roughly the same sea area.

The differences here are huge.

Connecting with six boats, maybe only three or four go out on a given day, and the collection times aren't even certain; it's not as profitable as his boat.

Concessions that should be made must be made; only win-win situations can lead to better cooperation.

Once he figured it out and had a plan, he felt a little more at ease.

He had even thought it through—when the fishing season arrives and the harvest is even greater, at worst he could help a few boats collect one trip of cargo, paying each fresh-fish boat a set amount.

Whatever they earn belongs to their fishing boats; as long as they give him a commission, it's fine—the main thing is a win-win for both sides.

As he was thinking this, he planned to bring it up himself the day after tomorrow, but he didn't expect Father Pei to call him for a video chat the very next day, talking about the very same thing.

That really is sharp.

He genuinely admired Uncle Pei from the bottom of his heart—only shrewd people don't get taken advantage of, only they can fight for the maximum benefit for themselves, and only they can build up the family fortune they have now.

Still, his behavior was understandable—who would willingly lose money just to let others make it?

If a man doesn't look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.

It was already decent that he didn't come looking to talk about it the very first day.

"Ah Dong, heh heh, how have the past two days of collecting cargo been?"

The moment Ye Yaodong heard his opening line, he understood what Father Pei had taken the initiative to call about.

"Collecting cargo has been great. Uncle Zheng's radar net really didn't fool us, and it wasn't for nothing that he called us up—it's genuinely good money."

"Right, he egged me on too, called me for two years now, but I was worried this side was too chaotic, with only a few boats, where would there be enough insurance? Better to earn money safely at home."

"Right, you have to be alive to spend the money you earn. No matter how much money there is, it's not as important as being safe and sound."

"Exactly—earn money safely, safety first, money second. We're lucky too, this trip a lot of people from our village came, with so many of us we can look out for each other, everyone can follow along and earn money."

"Mm, yes."

"Everyone came up taking a big risk just to earn more money. Now there's plenty of cargo, every day we can earn double what we do at home, everyone's happy. Wait for the fishing season, and it'll be even more…"

"Mm!"

"This fishing season can last three months, it's amazing, by then the earnings go without saying… we're not outsiders either, I'll just say it straight…"

Ye Yaodong listened to him beat around the bush so many times and felt sorry for his saliva, so he said proactively: "Uncle, you want to talk about the fresh-fish boat coming to collect cargo tomorrow, right?"

"Oh? What were you going to say? According to the original agreement, the fresh-fish boat comes to collect cargo once every two days, so tomorrow it really is about time they came to collect a wave of cargo and resupply everyone."

Ye Yaodong shook his head—putting on an act!

He clearly wanted to talk about this himself, yet he was waiting for Ye Yaodong to say it first.

Fine, be shrewd, but you have to put on this show.

Ah Guang is better—good thing this shrewd old fox is about to retire, and from now on Ah Guang will be in charge.

He said directly: "I was originally thinking, when the fresh-fish boat comes to collect cargo the day after tomorrow, I'd chat with everyone then and adjust the ratio."

"After all, we're closer to shore now and there's more cargo. If we keep the previous arrangement, it's not a good deal for you—it's really me who's been taking advantage…"

"How should I put this about this matter? It should be mutually beneficial. So after I looked at the cargo collection yesterday, I figured we needed to talk it over again. Perfect timing that Uncle is calling now… no, perfect timing that Uncle brought it up, so let's talk it over first."

Father Pei said with a smile: "Then let's talk…"

PS: It's the end of the month, if you don't cast your monthly tickets now they'll expire. It's double this time, begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets.

The end of the month combined with the official double event at the start of the month—I've set a ticket goal, and once it's reached I'll add three extra chapters.