But one day, Ramil came in our office with no traces of joy in his face and like something bad happened. And I was correct with what I thought! Their fishing boat docked but the catch wasn't good. Ramil told Wilbert that their fishing boat was able to catch only very few tuna and its sales were not enough to cover the expenses incurred during the trip...
A depressed man. Photo Credits
I've heard from their discussion that one reason that caused their sales to be very low was the current price of tuna. At that time, there was a plenty supply of tuna and so the demand is lower. Also, the tuna species the fishermen catched was of a lower classification which is priced much lower. To make matters worse, the fishing boat came home with a damage on its body and that needs to be repaired as soon as possible. I, who didn't have any share with the fishing boat, was in distress upon hearing this unfavorable turn of events and so was Wilbert. I can see the look of concern and mixed thoughts on his face. He was very worried.
Ramil, on the other side, was very different.
He seemed very relaxed and seemed not to worry about it even though we all know that they will be needing extra cash for the repair of the boat.
"Is it okay Mil?", I asked.
"Oh! This is normal van. Fishing is just like the waves of the sea. Sometimes we are in a high-tide and sometimes in a low-tide. I am very certain that we can recover from this soon", Ramil answered.
And he continued, "That's why we need to build more boats!".
"Huh?!"...That was my reaction to what he said. I cannot seem to understand his logic.
A beautiful boat. Photo Credits
Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he explained...
"We have very limited source of income because we only depend on one boat. If that boat's catch is bad, we can't expect that something good will happen not unless it sets sail again. After that, we wait and pray that it will return with a good catch. But, if we have two or three boats, the risk is spread since the boats can fish at different areas and can be scheduled to set sail on different dates. If, for example, the first boat had a bad catch from a specific fishing area, it can communicate with the second boat and warn it not to fish within the same area because the tuna aren't there. If the first boat comes home and yields negative sales, at least, we can hope that the next boat will yield better profit. If the first boat needs cash for repair, we can borrow from the earnings of the other boat and we won't have a hard time looking where we can borrow money. Also, if the first boat docks and learns that the supply is high an the demand is low, we can instruct the second boat to wait a little longer before setting sail just in time that the stocks are depleted and the demand will start to go higher again"
...
I was impressed with his explanation...
Instead of getting depressed, Ramil was even full of enthusiasm and he even made known to us of his intention to resign from his daytime job if ever the fishing boats will reach ten.
When I knew this, I became bothered. I remembered my conversation with Jeffrey whose aunt is one of the biggest tuna buyers in Gensan fish port. Her aunt told him that the fishing business will be in a downward slope within the next seven years. And right now, due to the fishing ban implemented in the fishing ground within few nautical miles from Gensan, fishermen are forced to fish for tuna from far oceans near Indonesia. I also remembered the stories of fishermen being hijacked in the middle of the ocean which makes it very risky.
So, I asked Ramil what can he say about all of these things...
Strike while the iron is hot. Photo Credits
He answered, "If the good Lord will continue to bless us, seven years is more than enough to recover all the capital. From my own experience, the return on investment period won't even take two years. So now, we must not waste the time while we can. As they say, we must strike while the iron is hot. Although, we failed right now, we must not give up because winners never quit and quitters never win, Van"...
Well, what more can you say after hearing that?!
Thus, i conceded...
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