Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

Wu Gang's long-nose pliers clamped the fishhook.

With a flick of his wrist, the wide-banded fish, over a meter long, fell onto the deck with a "thud."

Chen Yang looked at the ribbonfish on the ground and exclaimed.

"Why is this ribbonfish like a mirror? It even reflects light!"

Wu Gang continued to explain the second rule while laughing and cursing.

"You've never seen anything like this before; this is the true color of a ribbonfish."

Wu Sui also came over with a pair of long-nose pliers to help.

"Xiaoyang, don't just stand there, go get a few big plastic baskets to put the fish in."

"Be careful of its teeth when catching fish, or you'll get bitten."

"The teeth of ribbonfish contain toxins; a bite can cause your hand to swell for half a month."

Chen Yang quickly ran to the cabin to move the baskets.

The winch kept turning, pulling the ribbonfish out of the water one after another.

Almost no empty hooks!

On each hook hung a shiny ribbonfish.

They are unusually large, generally three or four fingers wide, and there are even some exceptional specimens that are five fingers wide.

Chen Yang ran back carrying a basket, his eyes widening as he stared at the silvery sheen covering the deck.

"Brother, aren't the ribbonfish sold at the market usually grayish-white?"

"Some of them were still ripped open, looking tattered and mangled."

"Why are the fish we caught so shiny? Did they smear oil on them?"

Wu Gang's hands kept moving, his long-nosed pliers clamping and shaking, and another ribbonfish, about five fingers wide, fell into the basket.

"Most of the fish in the market are caught in nets."

"The silvery substance on the ribbonfish is not scales, but a special kind of fat called silver fat."

"This layer of silver coating is extremely delicate; it will fall off with the slightest touch."

"The ribbonfish caught in the net squeeze and rub against each other in the net bag, and by the time they are pulled onto the boat, most of their silvery coating has fallen off."

"That's why it looks grayish-white."

Wu Gang handed the pliers to Chen Yang, letting him try it out too.

"We caught them one by one with hooks, and the silverfish are completely intact."

"In the trade, this is called fishing line."

"A fishnet in such perfect condition can fetch several times the price in the high-end seafood market!"

Upon hearing that the price could double, Chen Yang immediately perked up.

He clumsily used long-nose pliers to clamp the mouth of a ribbonfish.

"Brother, how much can this five-finger-wide fishing line sell for per pound?"

Wu Gang was standing beside him, instructing him on how to unhook the hook.

"A large ribbonfish caught by ordinary nets would only fetch around ten yuan on the market."

"But for a top-quality fishing line like ours with all the silver and oil, Boss Lin would have to give us at least thirty."

"If a large restaurant urgently needs the goods, the price can be even higher."

Chen Yang's hand trembled, and he almost got caught on the ribbonfish's teeth.

"30?!"

"This one must weigh at least four or five pounds, so wouldn't it sell for over a hundred yuan?"

Chen Yang was instantly excited as he looked at the dense array of ribbonfish on the main storyline.

"This isn't fishing, it's practically scooping silver from the sea!"

Wu Sui skillfully unhooked the hook beside him, responding with a smile.

"Ribbonfish are schooling migratory fish. They stay in deep water during the day and rise in groups to the middle and upper layers of the water to feed at night."

"The position and depth at which we cast these four baskets of longline fishing lines are probably right in the path of the ribbonfish's nighttime migration."

He looked at the radar screen in his mind.

The dense band of light representing the fish completely overlapped with their longline fishing main line.

This is a real example of putting the hook into the fish's nest.

"Xiaoyang, stop calculating and get to work."

"There are two thousand hooks; you can untangle them."

Chen Yang became incredibly energetic, his movements immediately becoming swift and efficient.

"Brother-in-law, don't even mention two thousand, even if there were twenty thousand, I'd explain it all clearly today!"

Seeing that there were enough people to unhook the hook, Wu Gang turned and walked towards the cockpit.

"Second brother, you two untie it up front, I'll take control of the boat."

"I slowly drove forward along the main line to reduce the pressure on the winch and prevent the line from breaking."

Wu Gang returned to the driver's seat, pressed the accelerator, and the fishing boat slowly moved forward.

Although sailing at sea doesn't follow the same prescribed routes as driving, ocean currents can steer the ship off course, so you still need to adjust your direction from time to time.

Leaving the wheelhouse for a short time is fine, especially at night when visibility is obstructed, so Wu Gang doesn't dare to linger on the deck for too long.

On the deck, Wu Sui and Chen Yang began a frantic assembly-line unhooking operation.

The winch clattered and clanged as it turned.

One after another, ribbonfish were pulled out of the water.

Wu Sui reacted quickly, using his long-nosed pliers to clamp down on the ribbonfish's chin, and then flicking the main line with his other hand.

The hook came loose, and the ribbonfish landed precisely in the large plastic basket next to it.

Chen Yang followed suit, and although his movements were not as skillful as Wu Sui's, they were still quite fast.

"Two hundred for one... four hundred for two... six hundred for three..."

As Chen Yang unhooked the hook, he muttered calculations under his breath.

The entire deck was filled with the sound of ribbonfish splashing the water.

The silver light shimmered, stinging the eyes.

The first set of longline fishing was almost finished, and the five plastic baskets were already full.

Next came the second basket, which was also filled entirely with ribbonfish.

Occasionally, a few moray eels or rock eels may be mixed in, but that's harmless.

These ribbonfish are all uniform in size, with thick, meaty, and wide stripes, saving the trouble of sorting them.

Chen Yang became more and more excited as he solved the puzzle, and he couldn't even feel the soreness in his arms anymore.

"Brother-in-law, have we really stirred up trouble today?"

"Just how many ribbonfish are down there?!"

Wu Sui wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and untie it, the sooner we finish and the sooner we can go home."

The two worked together seamlessly, one pulling the line and the other unhooking the hook.

The ribbonfish were tossed onto the deck, quickly piling up into a small "silver mountain".

The third basket line, the fourth basket line.

For two whole hours, the winch never stopped.

Until the last fishhook was pulled out of the water.

Wu Sui let out a long breath and turned off the winch.

Chen Yang collapsed onto the deck, panting heavily.

My clothes were already soaked with seawater and sweat, and my hands were trembling slightly.

But when he looked at the deck full of glittering ribbonfish, his face was filled with ecstasy.

"Brother-in-law, two thousand hooks, that must be over fifteen hundred, right?"

"I just did a rough calculation, and if this whole batch of goods sells, it'll be worth at least tens of thousands!"

"We made a killing on this trip out to sea."

Wu Sui shook his sore arms and walked to the water pipe to rinse his hands.

"Alright, this is the end. Go and move the fish into the cabin."

Chen Yang didn't seem to mind the fatigue at all; he picked up the basket and headed towards the cabin.

Seeing that they had finished collecting, Wu Gang stepped out of the cockpit.

He smiled broadly as he looked at the mountain of ribbonfish piled up on the deck, but soon frowned.

He walked quickly to the pile of fish, squatted down, and reached out to touch the bottom layer of ribbonfish that had been pulled up first.

The fish's body had become somewhat soft, and the silvery sheen on its surface had lost its luster when it was first taken out of the water.

Ribbonfish live in the deep sea and are accustomed to high water pressure.

Once pulled out of the water, the water pressure drops sharply, causing the ribbonfish's internal organs to rupture rapidly, and it will die immediately upon being brought out of the water.

This is common knowledge that all fishermen know.

Wu Gang flipped through the next few entries, and his expression changed completely.

"broken!"

"Second brother, the ribbonfish die as soon as they're out of the water, and we don't have any ice on the boat!"