The market for mid- and low-end seafood has been found. At least in the short term, Xiang Yang no longer has to worry about the unsalability of mid- and low-end seafood.
But this can only be a stopgap measure.
Xiang Yang has never thought that bundling the sale of mid- and low-end seafood with best-selling seafood is a long-term and stable sales channel. In the future, he will definitely continue to explore the market for mid- and low-end seafood, but now is not the time.
After selling the unsaleable seafood, Xiang Yang asked his uncle Xiang to drive a truck to the vegetable market not far from the seafood market and pick up a whole truck of vegetables and fruits.
After the trial voyage the day before yesterday, Xiang Yang originally planned to go out to sea to fish officially today. Xiang Yang was ready to proceed according to the original plan, and this time Xiang Yang wanted to sail far away.
There is no shortage of meat at sea, but fresh water, vegetables, fruits and the like must be replenished on shore. Anyway, there is a truck that is empty now, and Xiang Yang is not going to waste time going back to Huhai Town to buy vegetables, fruits and the like.
When they returned to Yanlong Village, Xu Fang and others were already waiting at Qinglongwan Wharf.
The new crew members were not very interested when they saw Xiang Yang coming back with a cart full of fruits and vegetables, but Xu Fang and Chen Qingsheng were very excited. Vegetables and fruits are extremely precious resources at sea. If they don't have any vegetables to eat after drifting on the sea for ten days or half a month, their mouths will definitely be filled with blisters.
"Thank you, Captain. You are so kind to us." Chen Qingsheng sincerely thanked Xiang Yang while carrying a box of Hami melons.
"Isn't it just some vegetables? I didn't see you so grateful when the captain gave you a red envelope." Fang Youqun and another crew member said unhappily while carrying a heavy box of potatoes.
Xu Fang, carrying a box of tomatoes, turned around and glanced at Fang Youqun, and said unhappily, "You'll know when you get to Shanghai."
Fruits and vegetables are not easy to preserve and need to be placed in freezers, which take up a lot of space on the ship.
In the past, every time the fleet that Xu Fang and his crew were on went out to sea, the boss was reluctant to prepare so many vegetables and fruits on each ship. Once at sea, those vegetables and fruits were like gold, and ordinary crew members could hardly eat a few bites.
Xiang Yang seemed indifferent, "Fang Youqun is right, they are just some vegetables and fruits." These vegetables and fruits are not expensive. The most important thing is that a cold storage needs to be kept open all the time to consume electricity. The crew members are doing their work for him, and Xiang Yang doesn't want to treat them badly in terms of food, accommodation and transportation.
Boxes of fruit, baskets of vegetables, and barrels of drinking water were carried onto the fishing boat by the crew.
He Mingde inspected the entire deck, checked all the electrical equipment on board, and shouted, "The hull and electrical system are all normal, and we can sail."
Zhou Wang also checked the winch and shouted: "The winch is in good working order and can start trawling anytime."
Everything is normal. Xiang Yang knew that the most valuable machine on the ship besides the winch, the sonar fish detector, had not been turned on yet.
But there was nothing that could be done about it. Xiang Yang was the last one to go onto the deck, and Chen Qingsheng immediately put the probe back onto the deck.
Xiang Yang waved at the dock, turned around, held the intercom and shouted: "South direction, set sail!"
The sea water on one side of the fishing boat began to churn, and the fishing boat slowly turned its bow and slowly accelerated towards the deep sea.
Most of the crew members on the deck ran to the stern and waved goodbye to the people who were seeing them off at the dock.
Unlike the last trial voyage, this was the first time that the fishing boat went out to sea in the true sense, and almost every crew member on the boat had relatives who went to the dock to see their sons or husbands off.
Xiang's mother was at home buying seafood and didn't come.
Accompanied by Xiang Shan, Xiang's father also stood in the crowd and waved goodbye to the fishing boat. Looking at the big boat sailing away against the wind and waves, a feeling of pride arose in Xiang's father's heart.
Soon the speed of the fishing boat climbed to 11 knots, and the people and objects on the coastline became smaller and smaller. Until the situation on the coast could no longer be seen clearly from the fishing boat, the crew returned from the stern to the center of the deck and became gradually active.
"Captain, how many days are we going to be at sea this time?" Fang Youqun asked vaguely while chewing a cucumber.
"Don't you look down on these fruits and vegetables? Why are you eating them now?" Chen Qingsheng looked at Fang Youqun with a smile, "We've just set out to sea and you're already asking when we'll be back? Are you homesick so soon?"
"Is it not okay for me to ask?" Fang Youqun glared.
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "I can't say for sure when I will go back. I will go back when I catch some valuable fish."
The amount of diesel consumed by distant-water fishing vessels each time they go out to sea is an astronomical figure. Basically, no fishing vessel will return home only after catching enough fish. They will return home immediately after catching valuable fish that are profitable, for fear that the precious fish species will die on board.
Fang Youqun was eager to try, "Captain, shall we try dragging a net now?"
Xiang Yang looked under the deck. The sea was calm and there was nothing but endless water. Xiang Yang immediately shook his head and said, "Wait a little longer!"
The crew was immediately disappointed.
He Mingde laughed and took a sip of Sprite. He was too lazy to explain to these young crew members why they hadn't cast the net yet.
The seabed topography consists of continental margins, ocean basins and ocean ridges.
The current location of the fishing boat is the continental margin, which is composed of the continental shelf, continental slope and continental rise.
The continental shelf is close to the coast, has a gentle slope, sufficient sunshine, and is mostly covered with lush aquatic plants, nurturing countless seafood such as scallops, swimming crabs, and lobsters.
The continental slope is the transition stage from the continental shelf to the ocean basin. The terrain is steep and the seabed is almost all bare rocks. It is difficult to grow lush seaweed in this environment, resulting in scarce fish resources. This section of sea is almost the most barren area in the entire ocean. Trawling in such a place will definitely not make back the cost of fuel.
Soon, the fishing boat sailed out of the edge of the continent and reached the deep sea, where the coastline could no longer be seen.
Uncle Xiang raised his head, drank the drink in the bottle, walked up to Xiang Yang and asked, "Xiao Yang, should we try to drag a net now?"
Upon hearing this, the crew members who were sitting and resting on the deck all pricked up their ears and looked towards Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang looked down at the deck again and found that his vision seemed to have changed a little compared to before. He could see through the sea water about ten meters below the deck. Although it was not as good as Xiang Yang who could see things hundreds of meters away at a glance on the seabed, it was still very scary, just like a biological fish detector.
Through the water surface, Xiang Yang saw that the number of marine fish under the sea was gradually increasing.
There seems to be a large number of these fish with flat heads and about the length of an arm.
"Master Xu, slow down the fishing boat. Let's try to drag a net here." Xiang Yang shouted into the intercom.
"Got it." Xu Fang's voice came from the walkie-talkie, and then the fishing boat's speed began to gradually decrease.
"Cast the net!" Xiang Yang shouted to Zhou Wang.
"Got it!" Zhou Wang, who had been on standby, immediately operated the winch, and a fine-mesh fishing net was thrown out of the fishing boat, spreading out at the stern of the fishing boat like a parachute.