Why is yellow lip fish so expensive?

It is understood that during the Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to the customs of packing zongzi, dragon boat racing, wearing sachet, and hanging calamus, there was also such a custom in Ningde: before the festival, the son-in-law routinely sent yellow croaker to his parents-in-law, and the family generally sent yellow croaker raised at sea, and the rich family gave wild yellow lip fish, commonly known as "giving fish." However, during the Dragon Boat Festival yesterday, a fisherman's family in Xiabaishi Town, Fu'an City, Fujian Province received a yellow-lipped fish weighing more than 100 jin and worth 3 million yuan, causing a sensation inside and outside the village. According to people familiar with the matter, the yellow lip fish is a Dragon Boat Festival gift from the family's son-in-law.

According to this calculation, this yellow-lipped fish is worth 10% per kilo! According to fishermen and fishmongers in Huangqi Town, yellow-lipped fish was already expensive more than 20 years ago and belonged to high-grade fish. in the 1990s, a jin of fish rose from dozens of yuan, nearly 100 yuan to hundreds of yuan, 1,000 or 2,000 yuan. Five or six years ago, the price of yellow lip fish was about 5,000 or 6,000 yuan per catty. In recent years, the price has soared, from more than 10,000 yuan to more than 20,000 yuan, and some even sold at a price of 30,000 yuan per catty. However, the difference in price is related to the size and freshness of fish and cannot be generalized. Why on earth is yellow lip fish so expensive?

Yellow lip fish is endemic to China, distributed in the East China Sea and the northern South China Sea, the national second-class protected animals, long, flat side, slender tail stalk. Due to the scarcity of the population and the intensification of fishing intensity along the coast, it is now on the verge of extinction. Before liberation, yellow lip fish were often caught along the coast of Zhejiang, which were regarded as high-quality supplements, especially fish fat (commonly known as "fish glue") was very precious, known as "as expensive as gold". Fish glue has a special effect of nourishing liver and kidney, such as Gaoli (reference), which is very good for hemostasis, especially for postpartum blood avalanche of pregnant women. Therefore, if you catch yellow-lipped fish from the former general fishing village, raise the village to celebrate and eat it. And the fish swim bladder will be dried and treasured for emergency use when pregnant women bleed, which shows the simplicity of folk customs.

Why is yellow lip fish so expensive? According to local fishermen, the fish fat is the most valuable, which is known as "as expensive as gold" and has the effect of strengthening and invigorating the body.

Fuzhou aquatic experts said that the value of different parts of yellow lip fish is different, the most valuable is its fat. A yellow lip fish is generally sold according to fish meat and fish belly. Usually, fish will be resold to high-end hotels for diners to eat, about 2000-3000 yuan per jin. Fish fat and fish head can be used as medicinal materials, change hands layer by layer, and finally flow to pharmaceutical merchants and pharmacies. "the fresh glue of yellow lip fish (note: fish fat) is hard to match the price of gold of the same weight," the aquatic expert said. it is true that yellow lip fish is commonly known as goldfish in Guangdong.