Shāyú! Shāyú!

Another strong gust of wind managed to slam Robyn to the deck of the ship, it was the 8th time now on this voyage alone. They had set sail only two hours ago. Robyn didn’t much like the sea, or fish, or even the outdoors for that matter. You could even say she hated them. Yet here she was, stuck on a fishing boat in the middle of a small storm. Robyn doesn’t care to get up, rather just accepts that she needs some time just sitting on the deck, trying not to be seasick from the waves rocking the boats in any direction they felt like.

Robyn wondered why she agreed to this, then remembered that she didn’t, she was told to repot on the fisherman from her boss. She didn’t understand why they were doing a report on fishermen of all things, but what could you do? Robyn then wondered why she ever decided to become a journalist, and why she didn’t at least do an easy field of journalism like cooking or video games? Why was Robyn in a situation where she was hunting sharks with Taiwanese fishermen?

She had been asking herself that question every 10 minutes since she started this assignment. But she was here now so she may as well do as good as she could, even if she kept falling flat on her face with every wave. She looked around. The fishermen at first bursting their sides every time she fell to the floor, but by now they had become numb to the overdone joke that was Robyn’s seafaring life.

She got herself together and headed inside. There wasn’t much to this ship, just a wheel, a kitchen and a few cots to get around 30 minutes maximum of much needed rest on. She headed towards her phone. No signal, of course there wouldn’t be any signal. They where in the middle of the East China sea after all. Okinawa wasn’t to far away, but the boat wasn’t heading towards Okinawa. Robyn wasn’t going to see the Naha monorail or the Okinawa Aquarium today. No, she was going to see some fish, some water and a few drunken fishermen who got their kicks from bullying the Indonesian fisherman. They apparently locked him in the freezer once, left him there for 2 hours. He was wet when he entered too.

Instead of finding sanctuary with her mobile phone, Robyn instead looked over her report notes. Three paragraphs full of waffle. She wondered then where her cameraman, Danny, could be. Probably dealing with the open ocean better than herself. He wasn’t, as Robyn soon found him in his cot, trying not to be sick all over the floor. Whoever is sick on the floor, cleans the floor after all. Well, for them two at least. If a fisherman is sick on the floor, they get that poor Indonesian guy to clean it. Neither herself of Danny could tell if they picked on that guy because of racism or because of his rank, as he was the lowest ranked and the newest to the crew at the time.

“Have you got any good footage Danny?” Robyn asked her stricken Colleague.

“Cor, yea some good shots of the sea, some crap, some adequate. Standard shooting today… oh hold a second” Almost as soon as Danny stopped speaking, he spilled his guts all over the floor. And of course, when he did, one of the fishermen just so happened to be walked towards his bunk. He only needed to give a glance at Danny’s direction for Danny to know what this meant. As soon as Danny grabbed the mop bucket, he turned around and started to burst out laughing. Shouting something in Mandarin toward his fellow fishermen. Robyn assumed he was having a joke with his mates about how some rich Australian kid couldn’t handle the ocean. They where right to be fair to them.

“These ain’t the same waves like in Brisbane” Danny sort of joke half heartily

“Yea, yea Danny” Robyn weakly responded.

An hour later, and both Robyn and Danny heard the bell. After the bell came that single word, that single word that was the whole reason they were puking up their guts on some sea that seemed to be actively hunting them.

“Shāyú! Shāyú!” The captain yelled. This was Mandarin was shark. Most people on the ocean at the mere mention of a shark would be running of to hide where they could, praying to Gods they stopped worshipping years ago and begging them to help them through and let them live to see another day. But on this boat, a mention of a shark meant all hands-on deck. It was hunting time. Robyn and Danny quickly grabbed their cameras and dashed towards the top deck, with Danny slipping along the way.

As they reached the top, they had already pulled a shark onto the boat. One of the fishermen was already ready with knife in hand. Danny and Robyn quickly ran into position and started filming. The fisherman Cut off the Shark’s fin, threw the fin into a near by bucket and threw the shark back into the sea. This carried on an on for three hours. They had hit the jackpot, schools of fish where in the area, and the sharks where there to hunt, not expecting of course to be the ones who where hunted. The shark’s blood only attracted more sharks. Robyn felt a little sick of the thought, knowing full well that sharks were attracted to the smell of blood. As one shark was caught, five more followed. As if they where being summoned to their own massacre.

As the three hours ended, there must have been hundreds of shark fins in the buckets. Robyn glanced at Danny, pulled out her microphone, put the fluffy on and attached the wire into her Tascam device. She handed the Tascam to Danny, who plugged in his earphones to the Tascam, pressed record and put the Tascam into his pocket. They both approached the captain of the ship, the only member of the crew who spoke English.

The captain agreed to the interview, and they set themselves up. Danny then gave the signal to Robyn, who asked the captain to clap into the microphone. The captain looked confused but didn’t give it much notice.

“Now captain, remember, repeat the question then answer it” Robyn said in a strange authoritative way he had yet to see from her

“Ok” he simply responded

“Ok, what is the value of Shark Fins? “Robyn questioned

“The Value of shark fins is high in price. It’s a delicacy for shark fin soup. You won’t see it being sold in any street vendors market van or family mart…”

“Sorry cut!” Robyn suddenly interjected “No Branding sorry captain”

“Ok understood” The captain responded, slightly taken aback. Where has this woman been all this time?

“Ok, clap again please”

The captain clapped

“Ok, Go”

“The value of Shark fins is very high. It’s a delicacy, sold for shark fin soup. You won’t see it being sold in any market street vendor or chain market store. Only fish markets are where they are sold. They go for a high price, and only the best restaurants in Taiwan and China buy them. But of course, we only sell to Taiwan. Our ship only sells in Keelung City after all. Some of them are put in vans, trucks sometimes or even just a simple car and taken to Taipei.”

“Ok captain, thank you. Good take Danny?” Robyn asked firmly

“Yep, fantastic robs” Danny responded

“Ok captain, same as before”

The captain assumed this meant he had to clap then respond to the question, so he did.

“Many people ask of the morality of just taking the fin, are you depleting the number of sharks for a mere profit gain?” Robyn quizzed once again, looking directly at the captain. This girl became a woman right in front of the captain’s eyes. She went from someone he laughed at to someone he was starting to fear and even respect in an odd sort of way.

“People ask why we take the fin, about the environmental impact of this and well, the morality of profiting from such a massacre. I ask only of how many vegans are currently watching? They have a right to complain, so this answer is only for them, anyone else has no leg to stand on when talking about cruelty to living things when they go to Kentucky…” The captain stopped himself

“It’s okay, we can edit, add a few wide shots of the sharks being knifed mate, carry on” Danny spoke from behind the camera “Ah yea, from anyone else”

“Anyone else has no leg to stand on when talking about cruelty to living things when they get themselves fired chicken or fast-food burgers. We know its depleting numbers and are not unwise to this. But I care more about my children, paying the mortgage and of course, keeping the wife happy. We make good money from this not because we fish for them, but because people keep buying them. I am merely just trying to make a living, me and all the men on this ship”

“Ok great captain, this is gonna trend for sure mate. You’re gonna annoy a lot of idiots and get us a lot of views & Clicks. Now, next question” Robyn quickly responded. The captain expected Robyn to be disgusted at her, and maybe even angered by his response, but no. She seemed to instead be licking her lips at everything he said. “Ok mate, now a piece about you”

“Me? I’m not an interesting man” The captain said quietly

“Everyone’s interesting on camera mate. Alright so 3…2…1”

The captain clapped

“You where university educated abroad, what made you decide to become a fisherman?”

“I am someone personally educated abroad. I learnt English in Melbourne and even spent two years working as a translator in London, Ontario Canada not Britain. I came home, did my national service, and met my wife. I needed work, my uncle was a fisherman and he introduced me to it. I made more money working for him then I ever did in Canada. Maybe when I’m older I’ll become an English teacher, but then again, I don’t want to take that chance away from some American, British, Canadian or even Australian. I know why you want to teach in Asia, I’m not judging though. My daughter is dating an Irish English teacher, they live together in Chiayi currently. Anyway, so yea, I own this boat, and it makes me a lot of money. I enjoy it too. Keeps me away from the wife at least. I can say that this isn’t being broadcast in Taiwan.” The captain responded, with a cheeky smile. He then continued.

“The seas are cruel, and so is life. You need to be tough. People like to label me as a villain because I kill the sharks, but there would be no hitmen if no one wanted anyone dead would there. I’m just making a living”

“Ok, cheers captain. Good interview. When we back in Keelung mate?” Robyn asked, directing Danny to pack up.

“We head there now, need to keep the fins fresh. Should be back by nightfall. These fins will be ready to be sold by Morning”

“I should have asked that. Aw well good interview”

The captain retreated to his quarters. It was true, what he always speculated about the world. She and him seemed so weak, but they were like everyone else he supposed. A hunter, hunting for something, like himself. Sharks of the soil.

Glossary

Tascam – a filming device that specialises with recording audio. It outputs better and clearer audio than a camera.

Fluffy – A woollen or cotton wrap that goes around the microphone to block out background wind noises.