Giant Grouper Harvest Diary

I got a call from my cousin in Beimen, Tainan, saying he had a batch of giant grouper ready to sell, and if I wanted to see how grouper come ashore, I should get there early the next morning.

It was a rare opportunity, so on the morning of October 9 I arranged with my sister to set out a little after four in the morning, aiming to reach the site before 7.

First a small flatbed truck pulled up beside the fish pond, carrying the workers and the nets. They skillfully set up a long net along the bank near the shore, with a small box formed at the end using plastic sheeting.

Then a large bundle of netting was placed on a small bamboo raft, and the net was paid out all the way around the fish pond, after which five people began hauling it in, one behind the other.

When the net was pulled close to the long net section that had been set up earlier, they began to close it in. The net came ashore section by section, and gradually we could feel the commotion beneath it.

When the net was drawn in far enough to be lifted out of the water, a big crowd of large groupers began darting and leaping in every direction.

By then the big truck for live fish had also arrived. The buyer specified giant grouper of 18 jin (9 kg) or more, so sorting took place as the fish were driven toward the small fish box enclosed by the plastic sheeting: those heavy enough were sent into the small box and dosed with an ether-type solution to calm them down, while those too light were tossed back outside the net, regaining their freedom.

After resting for a moment in the small box, the fish were moved into orange-red perforated buckets, five to a bucket, then lifted ashore on an overhead rail, weighed, and placed straight into the water tank on the truck.

According to my cousin, giant grouper must be raised for at least 3 years to reach 18 jin or more. This batch of giant grouper sold for 280 yuan per jin, to be shipped live to the mainland, arriving in Xiamen the next morning.

This was my first time getting so close to aquaculture, a very superficial contact, and I could not truly feel for myself the hardship of my cousin's work raising fish from fry barely visible to the naked eye to adult fish that can be sold in a whole batch. But when I helped my cousin carry the 200,000 cash deposit back inside, and then helped my farsighted cousin's wife read out the passbook account number to the buyer, I truly shared in the joy of the harvest.