Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1846 Skipjack Tuna Impact
Their fishing boat sailed on the sea until dark, before finally leaving the sea where they had been fishing for five or six days.

During that time, their internal communication channel never stopped; it was all about cursing and swearing at us.

They not only captured them, but also tortured and killed them. Although orcas are large, their calves are not small either, with such large, bulging bellies. They must have noticed that. Perhaps they were specifically targeting orca calves.

However, it has little to do with them as bystanders, as they have already moved to another sea area.

Ye Yaodong saw that the cold storage was already 5% full. Since the fishing had just stopped, he thought he would transfer a batch of fish and send one of the fish collection boats back first.

During the relocation, other fishing boats can also conduct preliminary exploration of the surrounding sea.

During the two or three hours they sailed, they did not spot any other fishing boats.

After all, the vast ocean is still in the Pacific Ocean, and the probability of encountering a fishing boat like they did a few days ago is too low. They really hit the jackpot.

"Let's move the cargo first. Since fishing has been interrupted, and the two Vanguard ships have been following us for many days, we can send one back to let them know we're safe."

"Then I'll make some contact and ask the cargo ship to come right over. I'll also call another ship to transfer the cargo to the cargo ship at the same time. That will be faster. Anyway, no one on the ship has set up nets yet, so everyone is idle and we have enough manpower."

"Okay, place the two ships on either side of the receiving ship to transport the goods."

The captain immediately made arrangements.

Goods delivery wasn't that fast, and it was getting dark, so he went to eat first. Since there wasn't much to do that night, he planned to rest early after dinner, since there were people on shift anyway.

The cargo ship was busy for two whole days before it could unload all the cargo, sort it out, and prepare to return home.

Ye Yaodong gave them some instructions before telling them to be careful on their way back.

They had been sailing for almost a week and working at sea for another week, which meant they had been at sea for almost half a month, but they had only actually been fishing for four days.

Don't be fooled by the fact that a single catch can fetch two or three hundred thousand yuan; that doesn't even include the cost. The larger the boat, the higher the cost, and even the slightest movement can make a trip to sea incredibly expensive.

If the harvest is poor and the price is bad, then you could really lose everything.

After the millennium, without government subsidies, no one dared to operate fishing boats; they would lose everything.

Ye Yaodong went to bed early last night and was well-rested. He was full of energy and took over the captain's duties, sitting in the cockpit.

A-Zheng was naturally inseparable from him. The two were inseparable, resting together and working together.

"Dongzi, I feel like I'm your sentinel!"

Ye Yaodong tossed him the binoculars, saying, "Then get to work."

When Ah Zheng took it, he looked up and saw the radar display screen. "Hey, hey, hey, there's a school of fish, no, there's a fast-moving school of fish rushing over."

He picked up his binoculars again to look into the distance, where he first saw a continuously expanding boiling area on the distant sea.

It's not spray, but waves on the sea surface caused by a school of fish swimming at high speed.

"What did you see?"

"I think I saw a triggerfish. There were waves on the surface of the sea. It looked like a triggerfish was moving very fast. I estimate it could reach 50 kilometers per hour."

Given the resistance of the water, this speed is quite fast.

"Show me."

Ye Yaodong snatched the binoculars from his hand and saw that the waves were moving rapidly, as if they were heading towards their fleet.

Meanwhile, someone on their internal communication channel reported, "There's an unusual situation. A school of fish is rapidly approaching this direction at an extremely fast speed."

"We've also discovered..."

The skipjack tuna's course changed strangely, heading straight for the fleet, with his ship being the first to be hit.

Unfortunately, his boat was trawling and couldn't move or run, so he could only passively endure the pain. Luckily, it was a skipjack tuna, which was only about 50 or 60 centimeters long, though some larger ones might be 70 or 80 centimeters.

On the high seas, all sorts of possibilities exist, and no one can predict what will happen. We can only deal with things as they come.

He immediately called over the ship's loudspeaker, "Hard to port! Full speed ahead! A group of triggerfish are charging towards us!"

"Workers on deck should find good places to hide and take precautions to avoid being thrown into the sea by the fish."

He then shouted into the internal channel: "If any fishing boats haven't cast their nets yet, those that can move quickly should come over first and help distract the fish, instead of just attacking one boat."

The cargo ship had just left, and there were two other ships available that could come and meet him.

The triggerfish is a type of skipjack tuna, which is a sprinter.

By this time, the school of fish was getting closer and closer, almost upon them. They could see with their naked eyes a wavy line of white foam rushing straight toward them.

Ye Yaodong had already adjusted the angle of the fishing boat, now facing the side of the school of fish, hoping to minimize the impact.

The two boats next to them also moved over, thinking they could help share the burden.

In an instant, the swarm of skipjack tuna, churning up the waves, crashed onto the deck first. Tens of thousands of skipjack tuna leaped out of the water, not in elegant arcs, but in straight, cannonball-like launches.

The impacts sounded like a continuous barrage of heavy machine gun fire sweeping across the deck, making a constant thumping sound.

He also saw a skipjack tuna hit the bow of the boat with its head. It must have been hit by the force of the impact, because it was knocked unconscious and fell belly up into the sea, which looked rather comical.

Ah-Zheng stared wide-eyed as the swarm of skipjack tuna rushed onto their boat one after another, bouncing on the deck like dumplings falling from the sky, their speed undiminished.

"Dongzi, what's going on?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?"

"Don't you know everything?"

"Am I a fortune teller who can predict the future, or a reincarnated deity?"

"Why are these fish constantly rushing up? The two fishing boats next to us are also full of fish, all rushing onto the deck."

"Isn't it good if it's delivered right to your door?"

"They all jumped up and then fell down, there were just too many..."

One skipjack tuna, perhaps due to its rapid inertia, pierced through the first-floor porthole and landed on the floor, still thrashing about.

Even more deadly is the impact of schools of fish underwater; the dense fish bodies create biological shockwaves that turn sonar screens into a snowy mess.

"Where did this huge school of fish come from? They look like they're on drugs," Ye Yaodong couldn't help but complain.

"Yeah, it looks like it's taken aphrodisiacs, it just rushed straight onto our ship, what do we do? The deck is full of fish."

"Just wait, they'll be done charging soon. I'm wondering if this school of fish is migrating? They look like a big bunch. Maybe we're blocking their way, so they're charging like crazy."

"Who knows? I'm not a fish."

The other captains on the channel were also discussing it, and two other fishing boats were broadcasting real-time updates to boats further away. Everyone was talking at once, very curious.

The bonito swarm didn't last long. Some of the massive fish leaped onto the deck, while others failed to jump and remained in the sea, continuing to move forward, though at a slower pace than when they initially rushed forward.

The entire impact lasted intermittently for about eight minutes.

There was nowhere to step on the deck; it was teeming with skipjack tuna, most of them still alive, wriggling and shaking their heads.

If you manage to fall back into the sea, it means you've successfully escaped; if you can't escape, you can only accept your bad luck.

As the last school of fish swept past, only hundreds of stunned or dead skipjack tuna floated on the surface, along with a layer of fine silver scales that shimmered like diamond dust in the sunlight.

"That's it? It's over?"

"Yes, the large schools of fish have passed our boats and continued on their way."

A-Zheng asked, bewildered, "So we're blocking their only way forward?"

Ye Yaodong didn't know either. "Maybe? Who knows? Living things have all sorts of habits."

If their fishing boat hadn't been trawling and could only maintain a constant speed, they would have sped away much faster.

He pressed the call button on the control panel, "Take stock of the losses for the other two fishing boats."

"Could you go down and check the deck for any damage? I think I saw a window cracked just now?"

"Yes, there's a cracked piece of glass underneath. I'll go check how serious it is. If it's not serious, I'll cover it with several layers of newspaper."

Seeing that the fish had gone far away, the workers quickly came out of their hiding place.

There was nowhere to put your feet; some people had just come out when fish splattered onto their faces, splashing sticky liquid all over them.

"Ugh... what is this? It's sticky and disgusting."

"Hahaha, what are you saying, all sticky and gooey?"

"Let's find a stick first, and kill these fish that aren't dead yet."

Ah Zheng also urged everyone to kill the fish on the deck first, so they wouldn't jump around and then jump back into the sea.

Looking at the floating skipjack tuna, Ye Yaodong ordered over the ship's loudspeaker: "Some people should kill the fish on the deck first, and others should try to catch the fish floating on the surface of the sea. If you can catch any that are still edible, that's fine."

Those that are inedible or severely damaged are left for the seabirds.

At this moment, a flock of seabirds had already swooped down to peck at the food.

The boatswain shouted from the deck, "Roger that!"

"Boss, a window on boat number 3 has been smashed, and the fishing nets are tangled up. It will probably take several hours to clean it up."

"There is no impact on ship number 5."

"Then let the workers hurry up and tidy it up."

"receive."

Other captains asked, "How many fish did you catch? We saw them swarming out of the sea and onto the deck like dumplings being dropped into a pot."

"Look at a few thousand kilograms, right? It's definitely not comparable to a trawl net. How much can you catch with a single trawl net? Today's catch is just a pittance."

"Yeah, it's shocking to see. It can only hold one deck of cargo. Any more would just bounce back into the sea if you jump on it. It's piled up too high."

Ye Yaodong chatted with them, then walked out of the cockpit and stood on the helm, watching the workers on the deck below busy cleaning up the mess.

Skipjack tuna is not very valuable and is usually used to make canned fish, but it still needs to be bled and quickly refrigerated within an hour to maintain the best quality meat.

There were still fishing nets underwater, and operations were still underway. He continued to move slowly at a pace of three knots per hour.

What just happened was just a minor, unexpected incident. It was dealt with quickly and is nothing serious. You never know what might happen at sea.

After Ah Zheng went down to the deck to make arrangements, he came back up.

"I counted them, there were 323 in total. Tell them to bleed them quickly and then put them in the freezer."

"Ah."

"Next time, try to avoid doing things like this. You can't get more than a few pounds, it's a waste of time, and it just causes unnecessary alarm."

"This wasn't done by human intervention; it was an accident."

He rested his chin on his hand, gazing listlessly at the endless sea. "When are we going back?"

"Very early."

June is almost here.

"You act like this even when you're on your own boat? You want to go back after only half a month?"

"No, I only stayed for a day and then wanted to go back."

"We've only been out fishing for a few days, so let's wait another two months. If you're bored and really want to go back, just wait for the next time the Vanguard goes back, go with it for a few days, and then come back."

Ah Zheng immediately stood up excitedly, "Are you serious? You're really letting me go back?"

"It's not like I kidnapped you."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back with the next new ship and bring you watermelons when I return."

Ye Yaodong glanced at him but didn't say anything. If you want watermelon, there's no need to worry about not having it. The harvest boat will bring some back naturally.

"It doesn't seem that fast. One ship just left, and if we're relying on another ship, I estimate we'll have to wait another ten days to two weeks?"

"almost."

"Sigh... I've gotten on a pirate ship. My own ship is gone, so I don't have to work anymore, but I've ended up working for you."

Ye Yaodong ignored him and switched the radio channel to the weather station, something they did every morning and evening.

When he took over the shift this morning, he hadn't even listened to the weather forecast before he was hit by a group of skipjack tuna.

"The weather station is broadcasting the morning news: this year's El Niño phenomenon is significant, with abnormally high water temperatures in the North Pacific..."

"Oh, this weather station is always a step behind in everything. It's like they only give a warning after an earthquake has happened."

After listening to the morning weather forecast, Ye Yaodong and the others turned it off and continued fishing as usual.

For at least the next week, they didn't encounter any other fishing boats. On the vast sea, only his few boats were neither too close nor too far away, fishing without interfering with each other.

The high seas are rich in resources and have a vast area. Everyone can catch a lot of fish in the same area. You don’t even need to search much. You can find schools of fish everywhere.

Sometimes, even halfway through the fishing trip, you'll see schools of fish gathering ahead, the sea surface churning, and their scales reflecting a silvery-white shimmer in the sunlight.

Ah Zheng had finally managed to fill several fish holds and was about to transfer them to the fresh fish collection boat. He immediately climbed over without hesitation, excitedly shaking off Ye Yaodong.

"Dongzi, I'm going back now. Take care. I'll bring you news next time I come over."

"Ah."

The first fishing boat to return, the Pioneer, hasn't come back yet, but the holds of several fishing boats are gradually filling up, and it will take them two or three days to tidy up.

He estimated that the first ship was already halfway there, and by the time the second Vanguard returned, the first one should have arrived as well.

Anyway, it won't make a difference. We'll just have to stay on the sea and wait now. It'll be the same if we arrive a few days later.

After all the fish had been transferred, the bosun directed the crew to use high-pressure water guns to wash away the fish scales and slime, and clean the deck before they resumed fishing.

(End of this chapter)