Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1842 Starting the Net
On the screen of the fish finder, a golden band of light, stretching from a depth of 150 meters to a depth of over 400 meters and with a thickness of over 200 meters, kept flashing.

The boatswains on deck were directing the crew as they busied themselves, waiting for instructions to lower the nets.

Ye Yaodong stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Pacific saury usually gather in the water layer between 0 and 200 meters, but this was the first time he had ever encountered such a thick, dense, and deep-diving school of fish.

Perhaps it's due to the abundance of resources at this time; after all, it was only 1995, and the Pacific Ocean was still rich in resources.

Ah Zheng rubbed his hands excitedly, "Damn it, we can finally cast the nets! This dense mass is 200 meters thick. How many nets will it take to haul them all up?"

Ye Yaodong pointed at the screen and said, "The saury are mixed with a school of squid. The warm current forms a vortex here, bringing up the nutrients from the deep sea... This thickness is probably enough for several of our ships to carry for three days."

Meanwhile, the excited voices of other captains could be heard over the high-frequency radio. They had also scouted and found their way, ready to catch the large school of saury.

Ye Yaodong did not immediately order the nets to be cast, but waited for everyone's preparations and reports from other fishing boats.

He only spoke after receiving feedback.

"Attention everyone, boats 1 and 2 are using mid-level trawls with high-powered underwater fish-attracting lights installed at the net openings. The light is blue-green, the wavelength most sensitive to saury, and the boats are slowly sinking to a depth of 180 meters. The two boats are maintaining a distance of 0.8 nautical miles and traveling side by side at a low speed of 3 knots."

This is the speed at which the largest number of fish can enter the net without breaking through the net opening.

"Roger that!"

"Boats No. 3 and No. 4, at a depth of 220 meters, maintained a distance of 0.8 nautical miles and ran side by side at low speed."

"receive."

"Boats No. 5 and No. 6 should change course to the southeast, at a depth of 300 meters, while maintaining the same distance."

Fishing boats can set up nets at different depths to create a bottom catch, preventing fish from escaping and catching fish at different depths all at once.

"receive."

"The saury school is more than 200 meters deep in the sea, which is thicker and denser than any other fish school during its peak season. It's enough for several of our boats to chase and catch them here for two or three days."

On the high-frequency radio, everyone waited until he finished speaking before they started chattering.

"Pretty good. This is a school of saury mixed with a school of squid. Let's catch them all in one net."

"This is the first time I've ever seen a school of fish more than 200 meters deep. It's incredible..."

“There are naturally a lot of saury here, and they move around in groups.”

"I was shocked when we detected it; there was a school of fish more than 200 meters thick."

“You haven’t seen the sardine migration. You can’t imagine how spectacular it is. More than ten years ago, in the waters off our hometown, we witnessed the migration of sardines that blotted out the sky, followed by a bunch of big fish. That was amazing. We could talk about it for a lifetime.”

"I've heard about it, my friends have been bragging about it for over ten years, but unfortunately I've never seen it..."

Ye Yaodong chatted with everyone for a while, and seeing that the preparations on the deck were almost complete, he coughed lightly in the channel, "Enough talk, deploy the net!"

Ah Zheng, who was listening to his command, shouted over the ship's loudspeaker to the deck, "Lower the nets!"

At the stern, a 3-ton netting board crashed into the water, dragging a giant 1200-meter-long trawl net into the sea.

The steel cable rubbed against the drum, producing a piercing creaking sound—a sound most familiar to everyone on board.

Such a large ship cannot be set up and executed immediately, so he waited, giving other ships time to prepare as well.

The fishing net alone was over 1000 meters long. Due to the thick schools of fish, the crew temporarily added three layers of isolation nets with different mesh sizes to the front of the net.

The outermost layer of mesh has large openings, which can release juvenile fish and small fish that do not meet the required size. The middle layer mainly catches saury, while the innermost layer has dense meshes to catch squid that drift in with the current.

In addition to the underwater fish-attracting lights, four 200-meter-long light cables hang from the side of the boat, wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin, revealing only a faint light.

This can create a vertical light band in the water at a depth of 180-220 meters, attracting phototactic squid into the fishing net.

After his boat started casting its net, the other boats followed suit, trawling at a constant speed.

After Ah Zheng and others lowered the fishing nets, he picked up his binoculars and kept a close watch on the sea.

After all, when you're in international waters, man-made disasters often outweigh natural ones, so you have to be highly vigilant about any fishing boats that appear on the sea.

"It's still that one Russian ship. I feel it's gradually moving away from us. I guess they're getting wary because so many ships have suddenly appeared over here," A-Zheng said, turning his binoculars.

"Okay, let's hand it over to someone else to monitor. It's already noon, it's time to change shifts. Go grab some food and then take a break."

The shift was supposed to change in the morning, but he was busy arranging the nets, so he asked the captain to take over later, after the nets were lowered.

Only after setting down the net could he sleep peacefully, leaving the others to collect it later. As long as they followed his instructions for fishing, there wouldn't be any major problems.

After all, this was the first net he had ever cast in international waters, so he had to be extra vigilant, keep a close eye on things, and pay attention to the detection and sea conditions.

During the shift handover, Ye Yaodong also reminded the captain, "Every 20 minutes, remember to send out a specific frequency pulse from the bottom sonar. Remember to remind the other fishing boats then. It's all up to you to take command."

This frequency keeps schools of saury in a dense formation without scattering them, but it is harmless to mammals such as dolphins.

"Anyway, according to the original plan, in any situation during the fishing process, we shall follow the instructions of the No. 1 ship."

It's not a problem if opinions don't agree normally, but the real concern is at sea or in case of an emergency. The more people there are, the more voices there will be. Deciding in advance which ship should take the lead can help avoid conflicting opinions, but it's still important to consider everyone's perspective.

The captain nodded. "Don't worry, I know everything. I'll make sure to give instructions and pass them on when the time comes."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ye Yaodong came out of the cockpit and saw Chen Shi standing at the cockpit door. He patted Chen Shi on the shoulder.

"Keep an eye on the sea and help the captain with his work."

"Yes, Brother Dong."

Ye Yaodong and A Zheng walked onto the deck. After the workers put the nets down, they stood at their respective posts, responsible for the operation and monitoring of each machine.

They had only been out for less than a week, and they all looked haggard and disheveled, their hair a mess from the sea breeze, not much different from refugees.

Even he was the same, with a stubble beard and clothes wrinkled like pickled vegetable scraps. If he hadn't shaved his head into a buzz cut before going to sea, he probably would have looked just like everyone else.

At least he looks a little haggard now, but he still looks relatively energetic.

"I feel like I'm getting old, and I can't stay up late anymore. I haven't slept all night and all morning. A few years ago, I was full of energy, but recently I feel like I can't do it anymore. After staying up all night, my head feels dull and heavy," Ah Zheng sighed.

Ye Yaodong nodded in agreement, "Yes, it's only been a few nights of working overtime. We can still go out to sea while we're still young. In a few years, we really won't be able to do it anymore."

"I did a quick calculation and I'm almost 40? Holy crap, I still feel like I haven't grown up yet."

“You’re almost 40 already. You’re a year older than me. You’re 39. Once you turn 40, you’ll be almost 50. My goodness, you’re almost the same generation as my dad.”

Ah Zheng retorted irritably, "Get lost! Stop talking nonsense. I'm only a year younger than you, and almost two generations younger than your father. How could I be of the same generation as your father?"

"When you turn 40, I'll still be starting with a 3."

"The older you get, the thicker your skin becomes."

"I'd like to say something nice!"

"When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. I'll just pretend to be mute."

The two walked arm in arm, laughing as they went to the canteen to get their food. There was always lively food preparation on the boat, since the fishing boats never stopped fishing and the workers worked in three shifts. The canteen had to keep food on hand so that the workers could take it whenever they wanted.

After eating, the two went back to their rest cabin to sleep.

The trawler maintains a constant trawl speed at the predetermined depth, which is also the most arduous stage.

The fish finder showed that the originally evenly distributed school of fish began to move.

Some of the fish were attracted by the light and slowly swam toward the net opening, while others instinctively dived deeper, only to be blocked by the deep nets numbered 3 and 4.

The captain checks the tension meter and the net depth indicator every 15 minutes, and also checks some other indicators such as fuel consumption.

The first net wasn't dragged for too long, about three hours. Once the captain monitored the net's condition and it was time to haul it in, he gave the order to prepare to do so.

He thought that perhaps because he was in the center of the fish school, he could catch a lot of fish with just a few bites.

He had been feeling uneasy for the past few days at sea, but he managed to calm down because Ye Yaodong was there to keep him in check. After all, this was international waters, not our territorial waters, and the danger level was many times higher.

Now that he has reached the target sea area and is about to haul in the first net, this is a familiar operation for him. Working in familiar territory, he has regained his confidence and is even a little excited.

I feel that fishing in the high seas is just as good as fishing in DYD, the only difference is the sea area and the catch. When you're really in the middle of the ocean, it feels like it's the same no matter where you go.

Ye Yaodong was still asleep at this time.

After the order to retrieve the cable was given, the main cable hauler began retrieving the steel cable at a speed of 18 meters per minute.

This speed is precisely calculated by the machine; too fast and it will tear the net, too slow and the fish may find a loophole to escape. In any case, everything is handled by the machine.

As the net openings gradually closed, the main crane on the deck emitted a deep rumble, a sign that the net bag was about to be released from the water.

Just by listening to that sound, you can tell that this net is absolutely full.

The crew members were already dressed in suspender-style rubber suits, holding sorting hooks and transfer baskets, ready for action.

The sea began to churn, and large numbers of small fish and shrimp driven by nets floated to the surface, attracting flocks of seabirds to swoop down and snatch the food.

As the giant net bag, 35 meters long and 8 meters in diameter, was slowly pulled out of the water by a crane, gasps of cold air rose from the deck.

P.S.: I'll add one more during the day tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)