Eight years ago, Chen Yuan, who graduated from high school, failed to enter college and went to Guangdong to work. He was introduced to the Ocean Fishery Company...
Then I spent a few months at the Maritime Academy, obtained my crew certificate, and headed to the high seas.
This work lasted seven years.
…
During the Chinese New Year this year, fishing boat No. 091 was parked in an unknown bay in Antarctica.
A large bay with no wind or waves, even quieter than the equatorial windless zone. The deep blue water is as quiet as the surface of a lake.
After seven years at sea, such spectacles are rare.
All the crew came to the deck and had beer, seafood, bacon, and fish meatballs.
This is an ocean-going fishing vessel of over 200 tons. Its operating area is mainly off the coast of Chile, and it occasionally goes to Antarctic waters to fish for krill.
There are more than a dozen fishing boats and a mother ship moored in the calm bay.
As soon as Chen Yuan woke up, Zhou Sheng moved a stool for him: "Hurry up, I'm waiting for you."
"It's finally a nice day, but I'm so sleepy." Chen Yuan walked over.
"You've been sleeping for more than ten hours."
Chen Yuan sat over and took the beer from Zhou Sheng.
"Today's food is really good." Chen Yuan took a piece of pork belly and chewed it. The oil was fragrant, as if it was the taste of his hometown.
"How does it taste?" The captain looked at Chen Yuan and said with a smile.
Chen Yuan gave a thumbs up and said bitterly: "I miss home."
"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed.
This smile is somewhat lonely.
From the large bay of Antarctica, you can see the Antarctic land, which is white and somewhat dazzling in the sun.
The sky is very low, like a pot lid pressing down on your head.
The sea water is very blue, and the sky is filled with white clouds. The clouds are reflected on the calm sea surface, making it difficult to tell whether you are in the sky or the sea...
"Here, touch one." The captain raised his beer and shouted.
A dozen crew members raised their beers and took a swig.
Ocean-going fishing boats like theirs, which follow the mother ship, usually only dock once every half a year. Beer is a luxury on board.
"This Chinese New Year, we didn't prepare glutinous rice balls. We used fish balls instead of glutinous rice balls. Let's eat a few more." The captain served fish balls to everyone in turn.
After eating and drinking enough, according to local time, it should be past eight o'clock now.
The sun is still hanging in the sky...
The current sunshine in Antarctica lasts for sixteen or seventeen hours. It is still very early before dark...
The captain also prepared other entertainment. When he heard the news coming from the radio, he was shocked when he came out: "Guys, a krill wall has been found outside the bay. Get ready to set sail."
Everyone got excited.
Chen Yuan did the same. He immediately became energetic and shouted: "Get ready to pull the net."
A krill wall means that krill gather together and look like a wall from the bottom of the sea.
That's hundreds of millions, billions, tens of billions or more of krill.
Normally, if you encounter a krill swarm, you will have a good harvest, but the krill wall exists in legend... it is something that can only be encountered but not sought.
Chen Yuan has been an ocean-going crew member for seven years and has four years of experience fishing for krill in Antarctic waters. He has only encountered a krill wall once.
When encountering a krill wall, one day's harvest is equivalent to half a month's harvest.
Chen Yuan and his crew members have a basic salary plus commission.
Based on Chen Yuan's shipbuilding experience, his basic salary is only 8,500 yuan a month. But this commission is high. Moreover, he also has additional subsidies and bonuses. His salary is much higher than that of a first-class captain.
Chen Yuan's highest earning month was a monthly salary of 370,000 yuan. That time he also encountered a krill wall.
The other 15 fishing boats also knew that there was a krill wall outside, and all the fishing boats started to move.
In a normal year, if the situation is better, plus the ship is older, if the situation is good in a year, the amount will be four to five million yuan. If the situation is worse, the amount will be two to three hundred thousand yuan.
This is the treatment of ordinary crew members on their ship, and Chen Yuan's treatment is much higher. Although he is only an ordinary crew member...
Chen Yuan and his fleet come from the same company, Anhe Ocean Fisheries Co., Ltd.
Mainly fished in the waters off Chile, Antarctica, the South Pacific... these areas.
After boarding the ship, it is very normal to not get off the ship for a year or two. People who come to work here basically encounter difficulties and are desperate.
The salary is good, but it's... life-threatening.
Going out to the bay, Chen Yuan received a notice from the captain and shouted: "Lower the net."
"Get off the net." Zhou Sheng answered.
Two crew members in their 40s picked up knives and cut off the rope. After the fishing net entered the sea, they continued to release more than 100 meters of rope...
The fishing boat had only traveled five or six kilometers when the captain gave the order to start collecting the net.
The fishing boat stopped, and Chen Yuan and Zhou Bai opened the winch and retrieved the fishing net.
The fishing net was hoisted up and dropped on the deck.
The first officer hurriedly ran out of the wheelhouse: "How many are there?"
"More than ten tons." Chen Yuan couldn't help but cheer.
The mate waved his hand vigorously, took the intercom and shouted: "Great harvest."
Chen Yuan untied the fishing net, and the krill flew directly into the cabin.
Chen Yuan grabbed some krill scattered on the plywood and looked at it: "The quality is average..."
"Not bad." Zhou Sheng said and shouted: "Get ready to go down the net again."
The prices of krill of different qualities vary greatly.
The quality of this batch of krill is probably above average. For one ton of krill like this... the workers on their fishing boats can get about 1,000 yuan.
But they can't hold too much, so with one network, they can get more than 10,000 yuan. On average, each person is almost 1,000 yuan...
This is just a network.
The fishing net was tied up again, lowered into the sea, and taken off the net again.
The krill wall is also called a super krill swarm, which is huge in number.
It's already dark.
The sea has beautiful fluorescence, and the endless fluorescence makes you feel like you have entered a dream world.
Chen Yuan held the guardrail and looked at the sea, thinking of the blue ocean in "Life of Pi"...
The ocean is glowing, which is why countless krill gather together. At night, krill will glow.
It's late at night, and the fishing boats are full of harvest.
Fishing boats are returning to the bay one after another to hand over their catch.
The name of the mother ship is ‘fishery base ship’.
The fishery base ship of their company is one of the most advanced base ships in the country.
The mother ship has the function in the fleet to support the entire fleet in fishing operations, catch processing, storage and transportation for a long time, as well as replenishing the fleet's daily necessities, fishing necessities and providing various types of repairs, and providing crew members with rotational rest.
Large ships for cultural, entertainment and medical facilities.
The fishing boat approaches the mother ship, hoists the harvested krill onto it, and then continues the operation...
The endless sea surface is scattered with phosphorescence, like an upside-down galaxy.
The sea surface was so calm that it seemed as if it had entered the windless channel of the equator...
Beautiful, mysterious and weird.
It is very dangerous to work on the ship late at night, and the employees on the ship have started working shifts.
Super krill swarms are hard to come by. Although they are tiring, no one is willing to give up.
Chen Yuan, Zhou Sheng, and two less experienced crew members were responsible for lowering the net. There were two people on duty in the cabin... The person directing the operation now was the captain.
The mate and other crew members have gone to rest and will not be able to change their shift until tomorrow morning.
After setting two more nets, the calm sea began to shake.
The sea water was rippling, and it took a while before I felt the obvious sea breeze.
The waves rose quickly, and so did the wind.
"Captain, this is the last net. I think we need to return to the bay." Chen Yuan said: "There may be big waves. Please notify the fleet and return to the bay as soon as possible."
"The mother ship informed that it was a level 5 wind and there were no big waves..."
"I feel very bad." Chen Yuan has four years of experience in Antarctic waters. He is not very senior, but he has good intuition.
Over the years, relying on Chen Yuan's intuition, their boat's income has been much higher than that of other fishing boats. The captain has been fishing with Chen Yuan for seven years. In these seven years, relying on Chen Yuan's accurate intuitive judgment, their fishing boat
Risks have been avoided time and time again.
Intuition is a very mysterious thing. But strangely, Chen Yuan's intuition is very accurate...
Chen Yuan felt worse and worse. The bumpy fishing boat made him more and more depressed: "Hurry up and close the net."
"What's wrong?" Zhou Sheng came over and asked.
Chen Yuan shook his head: "The bad feeling has appeared again."