"Could this guy be craving for shark fin?" Xiang Yang thought to himself.
Sure enough, the next moment, Fang Youqun chuckled and said, "Brother Yang, I think the fin of this shark is quite big. If it weren't for the purpose of protecting the animal, we should just cut off its fin."
Fang Youqun then added: "Look at this shark, its teeth are so sharp, it looks quite dangerous. If we kill it, it will be a good thing."
Xiang Yang was speechless immediately, "Then you are really a good person."
After saying that, Xiang Yang waved to the side and said, "Come here, a few people, throw this Antarctic sleeping shark into the sea."
"Yes, Captain." Several crew members immediately agreed.
Fang Youqun immediately became anxious when he heard this, "Brother Yang, is this shark also a protected animal?"
Xiang Yang frowned. In fact, the sleeper shark is not a protected animal.
Even though most sharks are protected species today, the Antarctic sleeper shark, which was not identified as a new species until more than ten years ago, is not included in my country's animal protection law.
But Xiang Yang knew that the Antarctic sleeper shark was definitely an endangered species.
The reason why my country has not established a protection program for the Antarctic sleeper shark is not because the Antarctic sleeper shark does not need protection, but because this type of shark does not exist within my country's territorial waters.
In Antarctica, it is extremely difficult to catch this kind of shark. In the past, no Chinese fishermen have ever caught this kind of shark in Antarctica.
But Xiang Yang feels that when it comes to protecting endangered species, instead of finding a hundred excuses based on the existing reality in the world, it is better to stop and think of a reason to change himself.
Today, with the booming and even saturated fishing industry, more and more types of seafood are appearing on the tables of ordinary people.
While humans are enjoying the gifts brought by the ocean, few have ever considered that human appetite has caused the extinction of a large number of species and ecological disasters in the ocean.
Indeed, as people's environmental awareness increases, this extremely realistic issue is gaining more and more attention.
Among them, sharks and shark fins are an issue that has been pushed to the forefront several times.
Since the slogan of "no buying, no killing" was vigorously promoted by many celebrities such as Yao Ming, many people have been responding more and more to this issue.
On the one hand, the shark fin trade, which seriously threatens shark populations, has been curbed to a certain extent under the pressure of public opinion.
On the other hand, some so-called "animal protection activists" have strongly criticized the legal fishing of non-protected small shark species, and have widely promoted the wrong view that "all shark fishing is illegal and should be resisted", causing great harm to many fishermen.
As for Xiang Yang personally, he supports the protection of endangered animals, so he chose to release the Antarctic sleeper shark.
But from a fisherman's perspective, Fang Youqun's proposal is not illegal.
Protecting and rationally utilizing shark resources does not mean generally opposing all shark fishing activities.
For example, the bignose scoliosis shark sold in the Eight Markets in my country is a non-protected species and is a very common edible fish in the southeastern coastal areas.
After the Antarctic sleeper shark was thrown overboard, Xiang Yang turned around and said to Fang Youqun, "This Antarctic sleeper shark takes up too much space. We don't know how long we will be sailing in Antarctica, and we will definitely catch more seafood later, so the shark meat is not worth keeping on the boat."
Shark meat, especially the sleeper shark, is neither delicious nor valuable because it is a deep-water fish and is at the top of the food chain. It is not worth it for Xiang Yang to go all the way from Antarctica to catch it.
After Fang Youqun heard what Xiang Yang said, he felt his heart bleeding, "Shark meat is worthless, but shark fins are valuable!"
"Is it valuable?" Xiang Yang raised his eyebrows.
"It's not a shark fin, how much can it be worth?"
In fact, those who really know the business only eat basking shark fins.
The fins of other sharks are mostly used to fool those who don’t know the business.
"Moreover, cutting off shark fins and throwing the sharks back into the sea is a cruel hunting method that has long been strictly banned throughout the world," Xiang Yang said.
"Banned worldwide?" Fang Youqun calmed down immediately after hearing that.
Banned by the whole world, he dare not make the whole world his enemy.
Xiang Yang patted his shoulder and said, "Yes, so your task now is to clean up the catch quickly, otherwise you will lose your red envelope."
Fang Youqun immediately became anxious when he heard this, "No, Brother Yang, I'll go to the cabin and get the foam box now."
Xiang Yang nodded and said with a smile: "Don't forget to break up the ice and bring it over as well."
Most of the fish here need to be frozen in the freezing chamber, even some precious fish. After all, these are cold water fish, and not all of them can survive just by being placed in the live water tank.
Fang Youqun nodded quickly. This net weighs tens of thousands of kilograms. Antarctic marine fish are relatively expensive to begin with, and there are a large number of very valuable marine fish such as Antarctic icefish, Antarctic sturgeon, and silver pomfret. If you average it out, one kilogram can be sold for at least more than one hundred yuan.
With a catch worth millions, Fang Youqun dared not slack off.
And because of the red envelopes, Fang Youqun felt full of energy.
Xiang Yang kicked away a cuttlefish weighing more than two kilograms. "Don't throw away the cuttlefish and squid this time. Throw them all into the freezer. These are cuttlefish from the unpolluted waters of Antarctica. Even if we can't sell them, we can keep them for ourselves. They are very nutritious. If we have to throw them away, we should wait until the warehouse is full."
Cuttlefish and squid are truly creatures that are known to have swept the globe.
This net caught more than 10,000 to 20,000 kilograms of cuttlefish and squid, almost half of the total catch.
If it is inland, cuttlefish is actually quite valuable. As far as Xiang Yang knows, in some inland places, several kilograms of dried cuttlefish can be sold for two to three hundred yuan per kilogram.
But at the seaside, it is really difficult to sell cuttlefish at a high price. No one is willing to buy it. If you keep it for yourself to eat, it will be everywhere on the beach, more than garbage.
As for squid, in recent years, with more and more cooking techniques, there are actually quite a few young people on the beach who like to catch a few squids occasionally and take them home as a snack.
When the crew heard Xiang Yang say that he wanted to keep the cuttlefish and squid as well, they didn't say anything, because this was not the first time Xiang Yang had kept cuttlefish and squid on the boat.
In the past, when Xiang Yang caught cuttlefish and squid, he would often store them in the freezer as snacks for the two humpback whales.