Turbot

He handed the net bag he was carrying to Ding Yi, took an empty one, and headed back underwater.

Ye Yuan returned to the seabed. Not far away, a lobster lay sprawled in the sand. Just as he was about to approach it, he saw an extremely ugly rock moving. Startled, he hurriedly backed away a few steps and stared at the rock warily.

After watching carefully for a while, he realized it was not a rock at all, but a type of seabed fish. Its skin resembled a rust-covered toad, making people instinctively reluctant to get close.

This was a stonefish, also called a tigerfish. Many fishermen called it a toadfish. It was a highly venomous fish found on the seabed, generally around thirty centimeters long. It liked to hide on the ocean floor or beneath reefs, disguising itself as an inconspicuous rock.

If someone carelessly stepped on it, it would retaliate without hesitation, releasing deadly venom. It had twelve to fourteen needle-like dorsal spines that could easily pierce through the soles of shoes and stab into the foot, causing rapid poisoning and excruciating pain that lasted until death.

Though ugly, stonefish had tender flesh, no fine bones, and high nutritional value. They also had medicinal benefits for moistening the lungs. In recent years, some had even claimed that stonefish could improve one's appearance.

After a stonefish's swim bladder was dried, it could be processed into fish maw for soup. Smooth and refreshing in the mouth, it was considered a banquet delicacy comparable to premium shark fin and bird's nest.

Stonefish spines were venomous, so they had to be handled with extreme care when being butchered. Ordinary people found it difficult to properly remove the venom, and even hotel chefs needed professional training to prepare the dish. If the poisonous spines were not thoroughly cleaned away and someone ate venomous stonefish, the mild outcome would be swelling and pain; the severe outcome could be convulsions and fainting.

A gleam flashed through Ye Yuan's eyes. I've struck gold this time. Holding the net bag open, he quietly moved closer, slowly herded the stonefish into the net, then carefully lifted it up. This stonefish weighed around seven or eight jin, which was fairly rare. Most commonly weighed only two or three jin.

Ye Yuan was not very clear on the price of this fish. The prices of rare seafood like this usually fluctuated greatly.

Ye Yuan climbed onto the fishing boat and carefully placed the stonefish on the deck.

"Careful, don't touch it. It's poisonous." Seeing Second Brother reaching out to touch the fish, Ye Yuan immediately warned him.

Ye Yuan took a drink of the bottled water Ding Yi handed him, then took a bamboo fish trap back down. Through his perception, he had found several more stonefish. Though none were as large as the first one, they were not small either.

To Ye Yuan, the colorful underwater world was like his own treasure trove. After catching seafood in this area for over an hour, the boat had already accumulated plenty of lobsters and swimming crabs, along with more than thirty of the rare stonefish.

Ye Yuan and the crew took turns resting.

Ye Yuan went back into the sea once more. He wanted to check farther out. Perhaps because few people came to this area, the fish were especially abundant.

The seawater here was exceptionally clean and clear. Fine sand stretched across a vast area without much seaweed or other aquatic vegetation, and the endless grains of sand disappeared beyond sight.

Ye Yuan casually caught a small fish. Its body was brightly colored, but he had little interest in such low-value fish. After releasing it, the little fish immediately fled into the distance in terror and vanished from Ye Yuan's sight in no time.

Ye Yuan paid little attention to the small fish around him. In the sea, as long as he did not encounter large predatory fish, very few creatures could threaten him.

Ye Yuan swam aimlessly along the seabed.

"Hm? Something seems to be moving beneath the sand." Ye Yuan stopped and observed the spot carefully.

Before long, Ye Yuan saw clearly that it was a turbot.

Turbot were bottom-dwelling fish that generally moved very little. They had gentle temperaments, flat diamond-shaped bodies, and both eyes positioned on the left side of their heads, with a flat, broad space between them.

Their bodies were naked and scaleless. Their backs were bluish-brown, with faint black and coffee-colored patterns. Their greatest characteristic was their ability to alter the shade of their body color according to changes in their environment and the seabed. Their undersides were smooth, white, and scaleless.

Turbot had small, short, non-sharp teeth. There was an arched curve above their pectoral fins, and both their heads and tail fins were relatively small. Apart from their central bones, they had no small bones throughout their bodies. Their midsections were thick with meat, their visceral masses were small, and their meat yield was high. They were one of the most common commercial fish.

To make them easier to sell, many seafood merchants gave them another name: Doru.

Many turbot on the market were farm-raised, and their price had fallen to fifteen to twenty yuan per jin. Wild turbot still had a strong market, and many high-end hotels liked using them in their cooking.

The number of turbot here was astonishing. After a simple inspection, Ye Yuan found that this entire stretch of sand was filled with turbot—at least several hundred tons of them.

After returning to the boat, Ye Yuan instructed the crew to prepare the trawl net. Ding Yi quickly steered the boat into position. As the trawl slowly slid down to the seabed, the boat clearly felt greater resistance as it moved forward. After dragging it for half an hour, they could begin hauling in the net. Amid the sound of the winch, the crane lifted a huge bag of fish, all of them turbot. Every one weighed at least three jin, while the larger ones were around five jin.

The turbot were unloaded onto the deck, and the fishing net was immediately lowered again.

All the crew members became busy. There were six crewmen this time, three more than last time. Together with Ye Yuan and Second Brother, the eight of them quickly carried the turbot into the cold storage.

They had barely finished clearing the deck when the second net came up. After dragging the nets three times in succession, Ye Yuan told everyone to rest. They were simply too exhausted.

After a rough estimate, those three nets had brought in around twenty tons of turbot. Even at the lowest price of twenty yuan per jin, the three hauls would earn nearly eight hundred thousand yuan.

Second Brother was too exhausted to move. He lay directly on the deck. "Fourth Brother, I can see it now. You brought me along as cheap labor. I'm never going out to sea with you again. It's too tiring." As he spoke, he found a cigarette and lit it himself.

Ye Yuan was also exhausted. He struggled over and pulled Second Brother up.

"Don't rest here. Go back to the lounge, take a proper shower, and get some sleep. You'll be fine."

After saying that, he headed back toward the cabin.

Ye Yuan and the others returned to the cabin to rest while the crew tirelessly cleaned up the deck.

There was a lot of marine debris on the deck. That was right—do not assume the ocean was clean. In fact, many people did not know that some fishing boats often returned from a trip with more garbage than fish.

Ordinary fishermen would not throw the garbage back into the sea. They would bring it ashore for disposal, which added to the workload of fishermen at sea.

According to some data, marine garbage in the Pacific Ocean alone had already reached more than three million square kilometers, even exceeding the land areas of some countries. A plastic-based "marine garbage belt" the size of Texas had formed in the Pacific Ocean. If this continued, the ocean would no longer be able to bear the burden. By then, fishermen truly would have no fish left to catch.

PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the reward, and thanks to every friend who has supported me.