Chapter 68

After saying this, the crew members understood a bit about fishing methods, and the next step was practical operation.

Ye Yuan demonstrated in detail how to use the trawl net, how to operate the winch, crane, and other tools on the ship.

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In the crew rest area, Ye Yuan also prepared many books and materials about marine fish for the crew members, so they could better become sailors.

Seeing that everyone understood it more or less, Ye Yuan then instructed to cast the net.

Yu Hongbo, as the boatswain, led a few sailors to operate the net, not very skillfully.

The fishing net spread out like a long bag, slowly sliding into the sea behind the ship as it moved forward.

Ye Yuan did not sense the situation under the sea; these operations were just to familiarize the crew with the workflow.

The fishing boat moved forward for over an hour, and Ye Yuan began to lead the crew in hauling the net. As the net slowly surfaced, a small catch appeared before everyone's eyes.

Ye Yuan could see that the crew members were very excited; after all, it was their first catch in life. However, this catch wasn't really good, just some 1-meter-long mackerels. Ye Yuan had caught these fish before, and they were of average value. This net probably weighed about a thousand to two thousand pounds, not a bountiful catch.

As the bottom rope was untied, the mackerels were piled on the deck. The crew members sorted the different types of fish, and Ye Yuan didn't help, just watching from the side, occasionally reminding them of the types of fish.

Everyone quickly got the hang of it. After a few more nets, the crew members were already familiar with the work of being fishermen.

Seeing that they were almost there, Ye Yuan didn't continue casting the net but directly instructed Ding Yi to sail at full speed towards the destination of this trip.

Before this voyage, Ye Yuan had already made plans.

This voyage could be called a long-distance one, with the destination being the distant Sea of Okhotsk.

The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea in the northwest Pacific.

It is 2,460 kilometers long from north to south and 1,480 kilometers wide from east to west, covering an area of 1.583 million square kilometers.

The coastline is relatively straight, with a total length of 10,460 kilometers, including the Shelikhov Bay, Udskaya Bay, Taibai Bay, and Akademichesky Bay.

The water is shallow in the north and deep in the south, with an average depth of 821 meters and a maximum depth of 3,521 meters, holding a water volume of 1.365 million cubic kilometers.

To reach the Sea of Okhotsk, the "Yushui" needed to pass through the Yellow Sea of China and the Sea of Japan.

No one on the ship had any objections to Ye Yuan's decision, after all, Ye Yuan was the captain, and he decided where to fish.

The Sea of Okhotsk is also a continental shelf sea, but it is completely different from the Yellow Sea, which is also a continental shelf sea.

The continental shelf area of the Sea of Okhotsk only occupies a small part of the seabed. Additionally, the Sea of Okhotsk has two deep-water basins, making the seabed deeper.

Due to frequent earthquakes on the seabed of the Sea of Okhotsk, the mineral content is high, and the seawater is rich in nutrients, which is beneficial for the reproduction of marine life.

Therefore, the Sea of Okhotsk has abundant fishery resources, with various cold-water fish living there, such as salmon, trout, cod, and flounder, which are innumerable.

Moreover, the marine mammals here are also abundant, with some whales, sea lions, and walruses using this area as a breeding ground.

As the "Yushui" sailed closer to the Sea of Okhotsk, the crew members began to feel the temperature gradually dropping.

Before leaving, Ye Yuan had made preparations. The crew members changed into the prepared waterproof jackets and stood on the deck.

Ye Yuan stretched his body and sensed the sea crabs he was looking for under the sea.

"Brothers, get moving, let's put down the crab traps."

"Sure thing!"

The crew members answered in unison.

For this voyage, Ye Yuan had specially customized a batch of crab traps. The crew members used some low-value fish they had caught recently as bait, hanging them in the crab traps and lowering them into the sea.

Ding Yi drove the fishing boat, adjusting the speed and heading southeast. Ye Yuan stood on the deck, focusing his senses on the seabed.

"Boss, why did he tell us to put down the crab traps? Is there a crab swarm down there? But he didn't even look at the radar, how did he know?"

At the stern, Ma Hua, while lowering the crab traps, asked Yu Hongbo in a low voice.

Yu Hongbo glared at Ma Hua: "This is a ship, do as the captain says, no need for so much chatter."

Not just Ma Hua, everyone on the ship wanted to know why Ye Yuan was putting down crab traps. Was there a crab swarm here?

At this moment, Ye Yuan was in a very good mood.

He had found his target here, which was to find snow crabs.

Snow crabs have many names. In Japan, they are called matsu crab, and in Canada and Europe, they are called queen crab.

They are a large crab species that live in deep waters, with a carapace width of about 20 cm and a triangular back, belonging to the spider crab family.

Their legs are particularly long, and some male snow crabs can extend their legs to 70 cm. In terms of appearance, they resemble king crabs, so many people affectionately call them queen crabs.

They are also a very delicious crab species and one of the largest crab resources on the entire planet.

Although the resources are large, in China, eating these crabs basically requires imports.

Ye Yuan's idea was to catch some and put them in his space. The Sea of Okhotsk has a large amount of premium seafood, and not bringing them to his space would be a waste of this voyage.

It took the crew over two hours to lower all the crab traps from the deck into the sea.

After lowering the crab traps, everyone ran back to the cabin. The temperature in the Sea of Okhotsk was at least 20 degrees lower than in Blue Island, and everyone was already very cold from the cold sea wind. Everyone ran back to the cabin to warm up with the air conditioning.

Ye Yuan had already asked Gong Hongzhuang to prepare a hot pot, which is the best food for keeping warm.

While eating the hot pot, everyone chatted, and the conversation turned to the Sea of Japan, which was relatively close to their location.

Several of them were former navy personnel and were familiar with the division of the seas. Through the conversation, Ye Yuan also learned some common knowledge.

Many people thought the Sea of Japan belonged to Japan, but that wasn't the case.

The Sea of Japan, known in ancient China as the Whale Sea, is the largest marginal sea in the northwest Pacific. Its eastern boundary is the Kuril Islands and the Japanese archipelago, its western boundary is the Far East region of Russia, and its southern boundary is the Korean Peninsula.

Due to the special hydrological characteristics of the Sea of Japan, its ability to handle pollutants is limited. A large amount of floating debris and household waste from South Korea flows into the Sea of Japan, causing irreversible damage to the coastal environment and marine ecology.

In addition, radioactive waste from Russia has had a significant impact on the deep-sea environment. Russia has conducted excessive oil exploration in the Sea of Japan, and oil spills have posed a hidden danger to the marine environment.

As a result, what was once a paradise for fish has now become a place with very few fish resources.

Now, where Ye Yuan and his crew were located was the intersection of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan, and the crew members were worried about the fish catch here.

At this point, everyone turned to look at Ye Yuan.

Thank you, 08a, for your support.