In the past decade, the number of black bass has been declining sharply due to abandoned fishing nets and garbage.
Gao Chuang has a strong awareness of animal protection. He wants to rescue the black-backed bass under the sea while the Steller's sea eagle is chasing the other one.
However, the two Steller's sea eagles did not give Gao Chuang any chance to rescue him.
The Steller's sea eagle is one of the most powerful eagles. It is huge in size, but extremely agile when flying in the air.
Just as Gao Chuang finished speaking, before the crew could react, the male Steller's sea eagle caught up with the black-backed eagle that was flapping its wings to escape. One of its sharp claws grabbed the black-backed eagle's back without hesitation, and then its hard and sharp beak aimed at the black-backed eagle's head and pecked it.
Suddenly, the black-backed otter let out a shrill scream, and blood instantly flowed all over its head.
"These two black-backed Europeans are finished." Xiang Yang shook his head.
"Forget it, it's over, so it's over." Gao Chuang shook his head helplessly. The battle of nature is often so cruel.
Currently, there are about one million pairs of black-backed owls in the world. The reason for their sharp decline in numbers is not hunting by other birds of prey, but is caused by humans.
“Chiu!”
When the Steller's sea eagle saw that the black-backed eagle was dead, it immediately grabbed it with its claws and flew towards the eagle's nest.
When the Steller's sea eagle came out of the nest again, the black-backed owl had disappeared. It was obvious that it had been taken as food reserve by the two Steller's sea eagles.
In fact, compared with the difficult reproduction method of the Steller's sea eagle, the reproduction speed of the black-backed European eagle is extremely fast.
During the breeding season of the black-backed European plover, the female bird will lay two to three eggs. It only takes more than twenty days for the chicks to hatch, and then about two months later, they will become adult birds. The growth rate is very fast.
"Hurry up and clean up the camp and retreat. The two icebreakers and the ocean-going mother ship will lead the way in front, the trawler will follow behind, and the purse seine fishing boat will go at the end. We will cast two nets along the way." Gao Chuang made arrangements for the fleet.
Although Xiang Yang's ocean-going fishing vessel can be used as an ocean-going processing mother ship and has a certain icebreaking capability, because Xiang Yang only has one boat, Gao Chuang assigned it to the ranks of trawlers. After setting sail, Xiang Yang sailed side by side with several trawlers, closely following an ocean-going processing mother ship.
"Captain, should we cast the net?" Chen Qingsheng asked Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang shook his head. "We won't be the first to cast the net. We'll wait until the other boats have cast their nets before we do."
Chen Qingsheng nodded, ran to the side of the ship and stared at the other fishing boats.
As for the rest of the crew, they were happy to relax, smoking on the deck and talking about the trip to Antarctica.
Seeing that the crew members were so idle, Chen Qingsheng immediately said, "Since everyone has nothing to do right now, let's shell the krill."
The price of Antarctic krill varies greatly depending on whether the shell is removed or not.
Unshelled Antarctic krill can only be dragged back to be processed into feed or high-quality cat food, because the shells of Antarctic krill are toxic to the human body. If Antarctic krill are to be circulated on the market, the shells must be removed.
After the Antarctic krill are removed from their shells, their value will immediately double, from a dozen yuan per pound, or even a few yuan per pound, to dozens of yuan per pound, or even hundreds of yuan per pound.
However, the shell of Antarctic krill is not so easy to remove. A shrimp is only one or two centimeters long, and removing its shell is more delicate than needlework.
When the crew heard Chen Qingsheng's words, they immediately began to wail. They were all grown men, and asking them to peel the shells of Antarctic krill was like forcing a strong man to do embroidery.
Xiang Yang watched with a smile. In fact, he didn't care whether the krill were shelled or not, because for Xiang Yang, it was just a question of how much profit he could make. Anyway, he would make money on this trip no matter what.
However, it might not be a bad idea for the crew to peel the krill while they have time. It is not a physically demanding job anyway, and the crew can continue chatting and resting while peeling the krill.
Xiang Yang shouted loudly: "It's up to you whether you want to peel it or not, but for every pound you peel, I will give you an extra ten yuan as labor fee."
No one has ever counted the exact number of Antarctic krill in a pound, but it is certainly impossible to peel a pound in an hour.
Logically speaking, the cost of production given by Xiang Yang was extremely low, not even as high as the wages on the assembly line of an electronics factory.
But don't forget that no matter whether the crew members work or not, Xiang Yang will pay them a fixed salary. Peeling shrimp shells is considered additional income beyond the fixed income.
As Xiang Yang finished speaking, the crew's enthusiasm was immediately aroused.
"Peel it, I'll peel it, Brother Yang. It's just peeling a shrimp shell. How can I have the nerve to ask you for money for such a small thing?" Fang Youqun said as his eyes moved back and forth between the large wooden barrels.
Contrary to Fang Youqun's suggestion, as long as he peels the krill a little faster and adds a little water to each kilogram of krill, it is not a problem to peel one kilogram in an hour.
Anyway, it's a long voyage and I'm just sitting on the boat when I'm bored. I don't feel tired at all when I peel fish for a few hours a day. I can earn dozens of dollars extra a day.
Suddenly, except for the necessary engine room crew members on the ship, all the people on Xiang Yang's ship went out. In front of each of them were two jars, one for unpeeled krill and the other for peeled shrimps.
Xiang Yang also tried to peel two.
As a result, Xiang Yang discovered that the shell of Antarctic krill was very difficult to peel.
The small size of shrimp is the main reason.
Moreover, the shell of krill is very thin and can be easily damaged if not carefully peeled, which will require more time to peel again.
Moreover, the meat of Antarctic krill is not as hard as that of shrimp. When peeling the shell, if you accidentally use too much force, the entire shrimp will be broken immediately.
This is also the main reason why Antarctic krill have always been shelled manually and there is no mechanized shelling.
Antarctic krill are too small. If they are peeled mechanically, it is easy for the remaining shrimp shells to be left on the shrimp or in the shrimp meat. These shrimp shells are harmful to the human body and can only be used to make high-quality cat food or high-quality fishing bait. Humans cannot eat them.
In New Zealand, there are even factories that specialize in manual shrimp peeling. The entry rules for shrimp peeling factories are very strict, and their reputation is accumulated bit by bit. Small workshops are not recognized at all.
Krill shrimp exported from New Zealand are the most expensive. After being shipped to Europe, the price can often be as high as hundreds of euros per pound. It is a very delicious seafood delicacy.