Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 191
"What do you mean, Karlos?"
Both Brandon and Andres listened to Karlos intently after he made that statement. Out of the three of them, Karlos had the highest level of education since he had attended college, although he didn't graduate.
"Our daily earnings are around 400,000 pesos when we catch big fish such as tuna, grouper, and sailfish. But since the salmon season is starting, there is a strong chance that we will catch mostly salmon from now on."
"What's the bad thing about it?"
"An adult King Salmon can reach 18 to 25 kilograms. Let's say we catch 50 salmon and their average weight is 20 kilograms. That would be 1,000 kilograms," Karlos explained. "Last year, I sold the salmon I caught for 600 pesos per kilogram. But that high price only lasted a week before the market price dropped to 500 pesos."
"50 salmon with an overall weight of 1,000 kilograms can still be sold for 600,000 pesos."
"That's great." Andres and Brandon nodded.
"But what if the price lowers to 400 pesos? Around the peak of the salmon season, the price goes downhill fast. Then we can only earn 400,000 pesos."
"That's... still not that bad," Andres offered, sharing his opinion.
"What if the price decreases further, and what if the salmon we catch are small?"
"The hooks we use are big, so we can avoid the small fish," Brandon said.
"That could be right."
"Karlos," Brandon chuckled. "I don't know about you, but even if we only earn 100,000 pesos per sail, I don't mind at all. Have you ever heard of an office worker earning this much money in just a single day? No. Even the other boats can't get lucky like us."
"...I guess you're right." Karlos was a bit taken aback. He realized that his sense of money had warped. A year ago, earning even 5,000 pesos was already a massive blessing. Yet now, it seemed that he was dissatisfied if their profit didn't reach 400,000 pesos.
He couldn't believe that he was becoming greedy.
'Is this good or bad?'
Probably bad. Greed could lead to his destruction.
'I shouldn't be greedy. I shouldn't be greedy. Whatever the sea gives me, I should appreciate it.' Karlos reprimanded himself.
After waiting for an hour, they decided to pull the longline. They caught 21 salmon and 45 other large fish. It was another spectacular day on the water.
As they returned toward the shore, Karlos heard his radio beeping. Soon, a static voice broke through the speaker.
"Mayday, mayday, is there anyone close by?"
Karlos always charged his radio every day and made sure that they could use it to contact people in case an emergency occurred. The radio could reach a distance of 20 kilometers.
But now, they were the ones receiving a call for help.
Karlos grabbed his radio and answered. He felt like he recognized the voice of the person asking for assistance.
"Hello, this is Alejandro Bangka. May I know what's going on?"
"Alejandro? Are you perhaps Karlos?"
"That's right. Antonio, is that you?"
"Look at that, haha, Karlos! It's a good thing you have a radio. My boat used up all of its diesel, so we can't move. Do you have spare gallons on you?"
"You used it all? What were you doing, going full speed or something?"
"More or less. My boat reached its maximum load capacity, and it took a lot of diesel to travel."
Brandon and Andres listened in. They also recognized the voice, which indeed belonged to Antonio.
Karlos looked at the gallons of diesel stored in his boat. He always kept 10 gallons in reserve in case they ever got stuck at sea for days.
"How many do you need?"
"At least 7 gallons. Don't worry, I'll pay you back once we get back to shore." Commercial trawler boats consumed far more diesel because of their larger size and heavier loads.
"...Alright."
Karlos agreed. Helping others was a necessity, this was a code of ethics in the maritime profession. If a boat needed help, you had to assist them, as it was considered a crime if you abandoned them.
"Nice! Here are my coordinates."
Karlos had a compass and a map and knew exactly how to use them. Andres also helped out, as he knew how to read coordinates properly.
"Are you sure about this? What if Antonio was caught by pirates and is just being used to lure us in?" Brandon frowned slightly, as he didn't like Antonio's son.
"In our profession, we have to think of the worst-case scenario, even if it seems outrageous. I understand what you're saying, Brandon," Andres chimed in.
"We still have to help them, though," Karlos answered. "We can't abandon them."
If Antonio was indeed caught by pirates, Karlos would have to use his gun to protect them.
Once they confirmed Antonio's location, they started the bangka's engine. Antonio's boat was on the way back to the shore, and Karlos used that very same route whenever they headed back. Therefore, it didn't take long for them to locate the commercial trawler.
Once they drew closer, Karlos and the others confirmed that nothing suspicious was happening. Antonio's boat had truly just run out of diesel.
There were 10 people aboard Antonio's boat, and they cheered when they saw Karlos's bangka approaching. They thanked Karlos sincerely, they had been drifting out at sea for 5 hours, trying to contact the nearest vessel.
"7 gallons is enough, thank you, Karlos." Antonio promised that he would treat them to a nice drink later, but Karlos and the others politely declined... It would be awkward if they ran into Robin there.
Anyway, the two boats traveled in the same direction at the same pace. They reached the fish port and sold their respective catches. If there was one great thing about their local fish port, it was that it was always busy and filled with numerous buyers willing to purchase fish at fair prices.
That day, Karlos earned 480,000 pesos. They returned to the beach and divided their shares among themselves. Their lives as fishermen were monotonous, but they didn't find it boring at all, especially when they were earning such an excellent living.