Turbot

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

Ye Yuan arrived at the seabed once more. Not far off, a lobster was lying in the sea sand. Just as he was about to head over, he spotted an extremely ugly rock moving, startling him into retreating several steps as he warily stared at that stone.

After watching carefully for a while, he realized it wasn't a rock at all, but a type of bottom-dwelling fish. Its skin resembled a toad covered in rust, instinctively making people want to keep their distance.

This was a Stonefish, also called a Tigerfish. Many fishermen called it a Toadfish. It was a highly venomous fish in the ocean, usually growing to about 30cm in length. It liked to hide on the seabed or under rocky reefs, disguising itself as an unremarkable stone.

If someone carelessly stepped on it, it would retaliate without hesitation, firing off deadly venom. Its back had 12-14 needle-like dorsal spines that could easily pierce through a shoe sole and stab into the foot, quickly poisoning the victim and keeping them in severe pain until death.

Though the Stonefish was ugly, its meat was tender and boneless, with high nutritional value. It also had medicinal benefits for moistening the lungs. In recent years, some had even claimed Stonefish could have cosmetic effects.

After drying, the Stonefish's swim bladder was processed into fish maw for soup, smooth and delicious, a delicacy on the table comparable to top-grade shark fin and bird's nest.

The Stonefish's spines were poisonous, so handling them required extreme caution. Ordinary people struggled to deal with its venom. Even chefs in hotels needed professional training to prepare this dish properly. If the venomous spines weren't cleaned thoroughly and someone ate a toxic Stonefish, mild cases caused swelling and pain, while severe ones could lead to convulsions and fainting.

A gleam flashed in Ye Yuan's eyes. He thought, "I've struck gold this time." Holding the net bag, he opened its mouth, crept over quietly, slowly herded the Stonefish into the net, and finally lifted it carefully. This Stonefish weighed about 7-8 jin, which was relatively rare; usually, 2-3 jin ones were more common.

Ye Yuan wasn't very clear on the price of this fish. The cost of such rare seafood often fluctuated wildly.

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

"Careful, don't touch it. It's poisonous." Ye Yuan saw Second Brother about to reach out and touch the fish and immediately spoke up to warn him.

Ye Yuan took a sip of the mineral water Ding Yi handed him. This time, he grabbed a bamboo fish trap and went back down. In his perception, he had already spotted several more Stonefish. Though none were as big as the one just now, they weren't small either.

The colorful underwater world was like a treasure trove to Ye Yuan. He spent nearly an hour continuously catching in this sea area. The boat was already loaded with plenty of lobsters and swimming crabs, and even the rare Stonefish had been brought up in over thirty specimens.

Ye Yuan and the crew took turns resting.

Ye Yuan went down into the sea again himself. He wanted to check out a farther spot. Perhaps because few people came here, this sea area was rich in fish.

The seawater here was very clean and clear. The sea sand stretched out in a vast expanse with no seaweed or plants in sight. The fine sand seemed endless.

Ye Yuan casually grabbed a small fish. It had bright, colorful scales. Ye Yuan had no interest in these low-value little fish. He let it go, and the fish, freed from its restraint, immediately swam away in terror, disappearing from Ye Yuan's sight in no time.

Ye Yuan paid no mind to the small fish around him. In the sea, as long as he didn't run into large predatory fish, there was little that could threaten him.

Ye Yuan swam aimlessly through the seabed.

"Hmm? Something seems to be moving under the sea sand." Ye Yuan stopped and observed carefully on the spot.

After a moment, Ye Yuan could see clearly. It was a Turbot.

The Turbot was a bottom-dwelling fish that usually moved very little. It had a gentle temperament. Its body was flat and diamond-shaped, with both eyes on the left side of its head and a flat, wide space between them.

Its body was bare and scaleless. The back was a greenish-brown color, with faint black and coffee-colored patterns visible. Its biggest feature was its ability to change the depth of its body color according to its living environment and the seabed substrate. The belly was smooth and white, without scales.

The Turbot's teeth were short and fine, not sharp. There was an arched curve above the pectoral fin. Both the head and tail fin were relatively small. Apart from the central axis bone, its whole body had no small spines. The meat was thick in the middle, the internal organs were small, and the meat yield was high. It was one of the most common commercial fish.

Many seafood dealers, to make it easier to sell, gave it another name: Doru.

Most Turbot on the market were farmed, and the price had dropped to 15-20 yuan per jin. Wild Turbot still had a good market, and many high-end hotels liked to use them for cooking.

The number of Turbot here was astonishing. Ye Yuan took a quick look and estimated that this stretch of sea sand contained at least several hundred tons of them.

Back on the boat, Ye Yuan instructed the crew to prepare the trawl net. Ding Yi quickly piloted the boat to the designated spot. As the trawl net slowly sank to the seabed, the boat's forward resistance noticeably increased. After towing for half an hour, it was time to start hauling the net. With the sound of the winch, the crane directly lifted up a huge bag of fish, all Turbot. Each one weighed at least 3 jin, with the larger ones reaching about 5 jin.

The Turbot were unloaded onto the deck, and immediately after, the net was lowered again.

All the crew members were busy. This time, there were six crew members in total, three more than last time. Including Ye Yuan and Second Brother, the eight of them quickly transported the Turbot into the cold storage.

Just as the deck was cleaned up, the second net came up. After trawling here three times in a row, Ye Yuan called for a rest. They were simply too exhausted.

A rough estimate put the catch from these three nets at 20 tons of Turbot. Even at the lowest price of 20 yuan per jin, the income from these three hauls would be nearly 800,000 yuan.

Second Brother was too tired to move and lay directly on the deck. "Fourth Brother, I can see it now. You're using me as free labor. I'm never going out to sea with you again. Too exhausting." As he spoke, he fished out a cigarette and lit it.

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

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

With that, he turned and walked 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 trash on the deck. That's right—don't think the ocean is clean. Many people didn't know that some fishing boats would go out to sea, catch hardly any fish, and bring back more trash than fish. It happened often.

Ordinary fishermen wouldn't throw the trash back into the sea. They would bring it back to land for disposal. This added to the workload of some fishermen at sea.

According to some data, the marine garbage in the Pacific Ocean alone had already reached over 3 million square kilometers, even exceeding the land area of some countries. It had formed a "marine garbage patch" in the Pacific, primarily made of plastic, about the size of Texas. If this continued, the ocean would be unable to bear the load. By then, fishermen would truly have no fish to catch.

PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the tip, and thanks to all the friends who have supported us.