I am a local in North America

Chapter 36 Bad News and Good News

As night deepened, the waves rhythmically lapped against the hull of the ship.

Uncle Feng and Bob returned to their cabins early, their loud snoring faintly audible through the door.

Su Jierui felt that he would probably need to wear earplugs tonight to get a good night's sleep.

Their irregular schedules, coupled with a full day of intense work, mean they can only rely on plenty of sleep to quickly recover their energy.

The only remaining scent on the deck was the salty, damp smell of the sea breeze. Grandma Zhuang chatted with Su Jierui for a while, asking him what happened during his participation in "Living Alone in the Wilderness," before going to the restaurant to pack up.

To save time, we only use disposable plates for meals, and everyone takes their own food.

Even though Su Jierui wasn't sleepy, he came to help his mother by throwing all the disposable bowls and spoons into the trash bag, thus saving her the trouble of washing the dishes.

This "use and discard" consumption concept is very American. The main reason is that labor costs are too high. Other crab fishing boats rarely cook hot dishes, but only provide some high-calorie ready-to-eat meals, or fry some hot dogs, bake a large portion of baked macaroni and cheese, bake pizzas, etc., whatever is convenient.

Meanwhile, his mother was busy wiping the table and washing the pots.

The dishes tonight were plentiful, mainly because Su Jerry was back. His mother specially made some of her son's favorite dishes, such as cola chicken wings, radish stewed with pork ribs, and braised chicken with potatoes.

As for whether the two white crab fishermen on the ship liked authentic Chinese food... that was not even on Old Lady Zhuang's mind.

However, judging from how Bob and Gavin Jr. were devouring cola chicken wings, one after another, praising them as they ate, they clearly really enjoyed this dish they had never seen before.

Grandma Zhuang remained silent, but quietly added a few more pieces to Su Jierui's plate to prevent the crab fishermen, who were exhausted and starving, from eating them all.

After putting the cleaned pot and wooden spatula back in their places, Grandma Zhuang came over, wiping her hands with her apron, and said:
"Let's kill the big cod and take the meat off while it's still fresh?"

"So that we don't forget to leave it here and get caught by the patrolling officers, who will then fine us. They won't listen to our explanations; they just want the fine."

"There are more and more rules these days, it's getting more and more troublesome. This big fish is worth a hundred or two hundred dollars. It would be great if we could sell it. It would be more practical to use the money to buy chicken or beef."

Old Man Su didn't sail last night and wasn't sleepy yet. After listening, he continued:

"It's good to have more rules, otherwise all the fish in the sea will be caught by the big companies' big fishing boats, and families like ours will definitely be squeezed out of business."

Even in the United States, the fines for fishing without a license are quite high. If you catch fish that are not up to size, are not in the open fishing season, or exceed the limit, you will generally be fined one or two hundred dollars per fish.

There are also unlucky guys who fish for Boston lobsters during spawning season and get fined two or three thousand dollars at once. Law enforcement officers patrol and inspect everywhere from time to time.

If there are so many restrictions on anglers, let alone fishing boats.

The east, west, and south coasts of the United States are all suitable for fishing, and there are also two seafood-rich enclaves, Hawaii and Alaska. However, the official number of licensed commercial fishermen is only about 3.5.

To protect the interests of these fishermen, strict entry requirements and fishing regulations are in place. Fishing for king crab requires quotas, fishing for Dungeness crab requires quotas, and fishing for Boston lobster also requires quotas.

Otherwise, with too many wolves and not enough meat, there won't be enough fish, shrimp, and crabs in the near seas to go around, and resources will be depleted in a few years, resulting in no one making any money in the end.

Like the two trawlers that Su Jierui's family owns, one of which is registered under his grandfather's name and receives two fishing quotas every year.

In good years, the quota for catching Dungeness crabs, salmon, halibut, flounder, etc., after deducting costs, can generate a net profit of $10 or even more per year before taxes.

They are more free and comfortable than many other workers. They can take a day off when the weather is bad or when they are in a bad mood, and their income is relatively stable.

The main reason is that the marine fisheries department issues quotas to ensure that fishermen can earn a profit equivalent to that of an ordinary job, thus forcibly distributing the pie fairly.

Both are deep-sea fishing vessels. Although one of them is his grandfather's old fishing boat, built in the late 80s, both of them can still make some money in international waters by partnering with others or renting them out every year.

"Yes, I think it's pretty good too."

The cabin wasn't very warm. Su Jierui exhaled a puff of white breath, rubbed his hands together, and added:
“For example, king crabs. If everyone came to catch them, our family would starve. Now we have quotas for two fishing boats and king crabs, which has already made many people extremely envious.”

"If you're diligent and want to make more money, you can buy quotas from others and profit from the price difference, or go to international waters where there are fewer restrictions."

"Going to the deep sea for fishing is tough, and you can be away for months at a time. But even if it's tough, at least you don't have to worry about food and drink, and you can chat with other people. It's much more comfortable than participating in 'Living Alone in the Wilderness'."

Old Man Su took a knife and went to the deck outside to gut the fish, saying with a smile:
“Back then, I accompanied your grandfather to the deep sea a few times. Later, in order to take care of you, I chose to hand over the fishing boat to others during the off-season each year.”

"It's not bad as it is now. At least you siblings are all very outstanding. Some of our friends who are busy with work all day and have no time to take care of their families are now starting to regret it."

"Hurry up and finish this, everyone go home and rest early. If there's a big harvest tomorrow, you'll all need to help with sorting."

Su Jerry wasn't used to sleeping on the boat, but the rocking of the boat actually helped him fall asleep.

He slept on a makeshift bed behind the sofa on the first floor of the crab fishing boat. Before going to sleep, he opened his laptop, checked his email, and also looked at platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

For some reason, he suddenly switched input methods and searched for the name "Qian Shuyao" on the photo-sharing social media app, and quickly found some more photos she had shared.

Even knowing what she looks like, Su Jierui still finds her pleasing to the eye.

Under one of the innocent and cute selfies, there was a comment from a white netizen with a round face and a beard, who wrote:
"Even I, someone who's not interested in girls, think you're beautiful. Asian girls really do have the smoothest skin, awesome!"

Su Jierui almost burst out laughing after reading it.

I originally wanted to talk to my junior, Qian Shuyao, but after considering the time difference with the West Coast, I felt it was inappropriate to secretly browse her photo wall late at night, so I gave up.

He immediately went to reply to comments from his Facebook friends and YouTube fans. The thought that his family was about to cut off his allowance made the importance of managing his social media accounts even more apparent. He needed to find a way to earn more money in case he couldn't even afford the property tax for his beaver ranch in the future and had to beg for food while sitting next to a "real gold mine".

As he drifted off to sleep, Su Jierui lay down to rest. During the night, he seemed to hear voices, coughs, and other noises.

However, his sleep quality is quite good; even in noisy environments, he sleeps until almost 6 a.m.

It was the dead of winter, and it was still dark outside. Grandma Zhuang came over and nudged him.

"Hey? Son, wake up and put your earplugs in before you go back to sleep. They're about to start hauling in the crab traps, it's a bit noisy outside."

"???"

Still bewildered, Su Jierui glanced at his watch and said helplessly:
"Mom, if you hadn't pushed me, I probably wouldn't have woken up. It's getting late, I should go help."

Grandma Zhuang waved her hand and said:

"It's alright. We don't know how many king crabs are in the cage yet. Your dad woke up several times last night, so he definitely won't be taking a nap now. You go to sleep first, and we'll switch shifts later. I'll call you if I need anything."

It was indeed noisy on the deck; you could hear Old Man Su talking excitedly to someone, shouting and yelling.

Su Jierui was also very curious and wanted to know how the day's harvest went.

After a short while, he stood up, hurriedly washed his face and brushed his teeth in the adjacent washroom, then found a waterproof suit to put on and went to the aft deck, only to find that it was snowing lightly.

Seeing his father, who had been in a pretty good mood yesterday, now talking to Bob with a dark expression, Su Jerry patted Uncle Feng's arm and asked:

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with the equipment?"

Uncle Feng is trying to quit smoking, but he's still chewing nicotine gum, his mouth full of mint flavor. We told him:
"We're fine on the ship, the problem is on shore."

"Huh? What do you say?"

"Your dad just called the king crab dealer, the old man named Tobirn Baldwin from last year, and asked him how much of this year's total catch quota is left."

Uncle Feng's tone was also worried.

"After asking your dad, I was shocked. He said there are only about 100 tons left, and the fisheries management department will announce the start of the withdrawal period this morning."

"what!?"

Su Jierui's eyes widened, and he quickly pressed for an answer:

"How could this be? Didn't they say yesterday there were still two or three hundred tons left? Why are they harvesting them so quickly?!"

Uncle Feng explained:

"Several boats had set up crab traps before the storm hit last week, but they didn't have time to retrieve them and returned to the dock to avoid the storm."

“The night before last, they set off to collect the traps. Last night, several boats sold a total of over 100 tons. One large crab fishing company’s boat sold 67 tons of king crabs in one go!”

"It's said that their cages were left on the seabed for nearly ten days, and each cage could hold up to a hundred king crabs. Those crab traps, which are 2.1 meters tall, are truly impressive!"

"."

Su Jierui gasped, feeling completely numb.

The fishing management system for Alaskan king crabs is quite complex, but he was very familiar with it.

Last year, Su's father specially handed him a thick stack of regulations and instructed him to make sure he understood them all thoroughly, just to avoid making mistakes, and also so that Su Jerry could help keep an eye on things on the ship.

Before the annual total catch is estimated to be completed, the fisheries management department will announce a specific "exit period" in advance.

From the moment the "retreat period" is announced, all crab fishing boats must cease fishing and return to port.

After the withdrawal period takes effect, no new crab traps can be deployed. There is only a very short window for ships to retrieve the crab traps that have been deployed on the seabed. After that, they must return to the designated port for unloading and declaration in accordance with regulations.

According to reliable sources from the acquirer, the exit phase will be announced this morning.

In other words, they will catch as many crabs as they can, and will not give them a second chance to deploy crab traps.

Since last year, almost every crab fishing boat has been equipped with monitoring equipment as required, which the crab fishermen call "electronic inspectors," making it difficult to evade supervision by falsifying information.

Moreover, in order to save time and register the catch of their own crab fishing boats before the total catch quota is used up, they cannot leave the crab traps on the seabed any longer.

When Su's father saw Su Jierui, his expression was complicated, and he gave him some instructions:

"When the regulatory staff come to work later, please make a call for me to find out when the withdrawal period ends and how much of the total catch quota is left."

"Before reaching this year's total catch limit, it's a matter of who moves faster."

"The only good news right now is that there haven't been any new shipments arriving at the port for more than ten days, and the purchase price of king crabs at the dock seems to have gone up a bit."

"I heard that they bought king crabs last night at $11.5 or $12 per pound. It seems like king crabs are selling particularly well this holiday season. Apparently, platforms like Amazon have sold a lot of king crabs, and a new company is buying them in bulk, forcing other buyers to raise prices."

(End of this chapter)