Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 95
The boat gradually reached the small island, the size of a basketball court. They had been trapping lobsters around this island, but they had actually never stepped on the island, simply because they focused more on fishing and never had any reason to explore further.
As for the three remaining traps that Karlos left in the mangrove area, he took them all and put them around the island, hoping for a more consistent harvest.
Even though the thief was already caught and no more stolen catch had been happening in the mangroves, Karlos felt like there was no reason to trap crabs now that he had bigger opportunities ahead. He appreciated all of the resources he acquired from the mangroves and he would never forget his profession as a crab trapper. However, he knew that he had to step up for the sake of a better future. Trapping crabs was not enough anymore.
He realized that his profit from trapping crabs was indeed substantial, but it was not enough to satisfy the dreams he had. He wanted to work so that his family wouldn't have financial problems and so they could live comfortably.
A few months ago, his daily earnings only amounted to 4 to 5,000 pesos, which for him was not enough to give his family a good life.
He was being greedy, and he admitted that. So he fully decided to focus on trapping spiny lobsters instead. The fact that he could earn around 20,000 pesos per sail by catching lobsters spoke for itself.
"I wonder what's on the island..." Brandon muttered while looking at the island that they gradually circled around.
"Probably seabirds and small trees. It's not really a big landmass," Karlos answered while steering the boat.
The two had already collected 17 lobsters from 13 traps. After the first sessions of a bountiful harvest, catching lobsters gradually decreased to 18 lobsters on average.
After losing some traps because of the typhoon last month, Karlos made new traps and returned to 15 traps again.
Sometimes, a trap couldn't even catch a single lobster, while sometimes a trap caught 2 or 3 lobsters. Still, for Brandon and Karlos, it wasn't really devastating. Eighteen spiny lobsters were already a good amount, more than what most fishermen hauled daily. In fact, Brandon was amazed because their daily catch was never bad. The lowest amount they caught was 15 lobsters, and they already earned 14,000 pesos with that amount.
Really, it wasn't bad at all.
"This is the last trap," Brandon huffed and hauled the trap. He was surprised and grinned when he saw that they caught 3 lobsters. However...
"There's an eel, let me handle it." Brandon meticulously threw the thrashing eel back into the sea. Eels were dangerous as they had sharp teeth that could bite flesh and leave nasty wounds.
"Have you ever seen an electric eel?" Karlos asked Brandon, who was the veteran here.
"Electric eel? Of course. Vicente got electrocuted once when we were hauling the trawling net. Fortunately, he immediately let go of the eel so he didn't receive much damage."
Karlos recalled Vicente, who was a decade older than him. Just like Brandon, Vicente was a poor fisherman who only earned 700 pesos as a worker on a boat. Now that their boat was destroyed by the typhoon last month, Vicente was also working at the fish port as a porter, enduring long hours of hauling just to earn something.
Karlos experienced working as a porter and a fisherman, for him, being a porter was tougher but less dangerous. It was more tiring to carry baskets and push heavy carts all day long, especially under the harsh sun.
'I guess Brandon doesn't want to return to being a porter. Also, boat owners had stopped hiring workers since the salmon and tuna season had ended.' Karlos concluded, fully understanding Brandon's situation.
He glanced at Brandon who was counting the spiny lobsters. Most of the work had been on Brandon, and Karlos was only responsible for navigating the boat, yet Brandon didn't show any resentment nor any sign of slowing down. He was always active and appreciated the opportunity to earn money.
For Brandon, now that he had a 5% profit share, he understood that if he worked harder, he would also earn more. At least this was better than being a simple worker who earned a constant amount of money, with no clue of improving in life.
"We caught 20 spiny lobsters," Brandon announced, another good harvest for today.
"Nice," Karlos nodded.
After that, the boat returned to their fishing spot to haul in the long line that they had left earlier, hoping for at least a decent catch.
Brandon took responsibility for buying bait, and he never asked for money from Karlos again. He excused that buying bait was not expensive and he could shoulder it. This was his way of showing that he was a reliable person, even going through spending his own money.
Karlos said that he should buy the cheapest fish and Brandon naturally agreed. He usually bought half a kilogram of sardines, which cost him 20 pesos, practically nothing compared to what he earned every sail, so he didn't mind at all. If he continued working with Karlos, he had no problem buying baits as long as the partnership stayed stable.
They saw the floating styrofoam, the first end of the long line bobbing gently in the waves. Karlos stopped the boat a few feet away from the styrofoam and Brandon used a wooden stick to pull it closer.
Brandon nervously pulled the long line one hook at a time. They caught 47 fish, consisting of milkfish, medium-length squid, and a few different fish, with most of them milkfish and squid.
When Brandon grabbed the last hook and the end line, he bitterly smiled. As expected, the salmon season had ended, removing their biggest source of income. It seemed that this amazing part-time job was going to end.
"Let's return," Karlos said, accepting the reality calmly.
At the fish port, they earned 16,800 pesos selling 20 spiny lobsters.
They also earned 4,200 pesos from the fish they caught with the long line, an amount that Brandon already expected. Forty-seven fish was not a lot, especially if the fish varied in sizes and prices. It was hard for a small boat to earn money through fishing, unless luck was on their side.
When the two reached the beach, Karlos gave his share and Brandon accepted it. Today, they earned 21,000 pesos exactly, and Brandon earned 1,500 pesos, twice his usual daily salary in Davis's boat.
"..." Brandon was silent the whole time, waiting for the verdict.
"I'm thinking of continuing our partnership," Karlos muttered after weighing everything carefully.
"Huh!?"
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