My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 102 Too Many Quantities Are Also a Problem

Chapter 104 Too Many Quantities Are Also a Problem

"How is it? Is there anything?" Lu Xingyu's expression was a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

"Do you think I'd go back empty-handed?" Zhou Miao went to the net-lifting machine, started it up, and pulled up the net cage.

Lu Xingyu's eyes lit up when he saw him using the internet.

The fact that they're using this means there are definitely a lot of mantis shrimp in the trap.

Sure enough, just over three meters above the water, he saw the mantis shrimp swarming inside, an astonishing number.

"We've struck gold! With so many mantis shrimp, we're going to make tens of thousands today!"

Lu Xingyu was overjoyed. If each fish trap had this many, the fishing boats might not be able to hold them all.

"It depends on the size. The big, fat ones with lots of roe are expensive; the small ones are only worth a few dollars."

Although Zhou Miao was trying to dampen his enthusiasm, after opening the cage and emptying all the contents, he was quite satisfied with the quantity, feeling that each cage contained nearly a hundred pounds.

The reason why it looks like there are more mantis shrimp than yesterday, but the actual weight is less, is because mantis shrimp don't weigh much.

A box of mantis shrimp will weigh far more than a box of mantis shrimp.

Zhou Miao flipped through them roughly and found that half of them were large mantis shrimp, about fifteen centimeters long.

Among these large mantis shrimp, there are a few top-quality specimens that reach 20 centimeters in length.

He couldn't tell the percentage of female shrimp with roe yet, but even a small percentage should still make up about a third of the mantis shrimp.

Such a proportion is already very high. For a normal fisherman, if one-tenth of the mantis shrimp in a net is a large shrimp, it is considered very good.

As expected of the large number of mantis shrimps mentioned in the desert island report, there were indeed many.

"Xingyu, come over and sort them. Pick out all the big ones with roe and put them in the live fish hold to keep them alive. Just pile the rest aside and don't worry about them."

It's unrealistic to keep so many mantis shrimp, so Zhou Miao has to make a choice and focus on raising the most expensive ones.

"How can you tell there's ointment?" Lu Xingyu asked as he approached him.

Zhou Miao took out a pair of gloves and handed them to him, then picked out a female shrimp and a male shrimp, turned them over and pointed to the tail, saying, "Check the tail to see if there's any roe."

"The fact that you can clearly see the shrimp tail here means that the mantis shrimp not only has roe but is also very plump. Some thinner ones may also have roe, but it is rare for them to have roe all over their tails."

"I see, there's quite a lot of this ointment!" Lu Xingyu exclaimed in realization, then put on his gloves and smiled, "Okay, I'll take care of this."

"Don't pick them out one by one. Just gather some over by hand, then pick up the larger ones and look at them. Put the ones with roe in the live fish hold. Put the ones without roe in the water tank. You don't need to worry about the smaller ones."

Since novices are unreliable, Zhou Miao was worried that he would slowly pick through such a large pile of mantis shrimps, so he specially made a demonstration.

If he hadn't been specifically taught, he was afraid he would have pulled up all ten traps before Lu Xingyu had even finished picking up a single one.

Sure enough, after he demonstrated, Lu Xingyu showed a look of realization.

Zhou Miao then stood beside him and watched him sort the fish. Seeing that he was indeed doing it the way he had instructed, she felt reassured and went to start the boat to collect the second fish trap.

The second trap also exploded, with almost as many as the first one.

Zhou Miao then retrieved three more fish traps, almost filling the middle of the fishing boat's hold. The mantis shrimp were piled up like a small mountain; there were simply too many.

And there is another very important issue: mantis shrimp can only be cooked while still alive to ensure that the meat is firm and plump.

Like crabs, dead mantis shrimp meat disintegrates, so many people who don't know this find it strange when they buy them and cook them at home.

It felt plump when I bought it, so why did it become hollow after cooking?

Just as Zhou Miao was thinking about what to do, Luo Hao arrived in a boat not far away.

With a look of both excitement and distress on her face, she said to him, "Ah Miao, there are too many shrimp. They'll die if we just leave them out. It's such a waste."

"I think we should send them back first. The small ones need to be processed into dried products in time, and the large ones need to be sold in time."

Zhou Miao frowned and said, "What you said makes sense, but we need someone to watch over this place, right? And drying the products requires enough manpower. I remember that mantis shrimp need to be shelled and the meat extracted before they can be dried."

"Leave this to me. I'll get someone to come and help. Just give them some money." Luo Hao came over, clearly having already planned out the next steps. "I just got a fish trap here. I'll transfer the stuff to your boat, and then I'll take your boat back first."

"We'll rent a boat from a friend and have Xingyu bring it over so we can collect all these fish traps and take them back at once."

Zhou Miao was just about to say that the distance was too far, and it would take more than four hours to go back and forth, so the method of sending the mackerel before seemed inappropriate. Unexpectedly, Luo Hao had already figured out what to do.

In that case, he has no problem.

As the goods were being moved, Zhou Miao stood on Luo Hao's boat and watched them leave.

Then I took a blanket and found a place to sleep. It was a full four hours, so I had to wait!

I slept for so long that it was noon.

Zhou Miao was half asleep and half awake when he heard the sound of the engine and immediately got up.

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, they saw their fishing boat ahead, driven by Lu Xingyu, with a larger fishing boat following behind.

The three of them worked together to collect their traps. Zhou Miao quickly collected the remaining five traps, and the deck was once again piled high with mantis shrimp.

But this time he didn't bother sorting them. He covered them with a waterproof cloth and went to Lu Xingyu's side, got on his own boat, and helped him collect the remaining fish traps.

After collecting all the fish traps here, we'll move on to collecting the fish traps used to catch mantis shrimp.

The fish traps were all empty. I don't know if it was because of the wrong location or because I was lucky and placed the traps where the tide was passing by.

However, today's harvest has been bountiful, so it doesn't matter if there's no high tide.

After putting away all the fish traps, the three of them quickly sailed back home.

Three boats docked directly at the Tingtao Fishing Raft, where it was quite lively. Five middle-aged women were using scissors to cut meat.

Moreover, most of the mantis shrimp that were initially transported back have already been processed, with only the larger ones remaining and being kept in net cages on the fish rafts.

Zhou Miao thought only five people would come to help, but the next moment, Lu Xiaoxiao and Luo Qianqian each arrived in small boats with five people each.

That's right. With only five people, they probably wouldn't be able to handle the mantis shrimp on three boats by nightfall. But with ten more people, it would be a different story.

Zhou Miao and his two companions immediately sprang into action, sorting the goods directly on the ship.

The larger ones are thrown into the live fish hold, and the smaller ones, when accumulated, are packed into boxes, moved to the fish rafts, and poured in front of the middle-aged women who are harvesting the shrimp meat, so that they don't have to wait idly on the fish rafts.

Lu Xiaoxiao and Luo Qianqian were also busy; they were transporting the large mantis shrimps from the boat to the shore to sell to Pang Yu.