Chaoshan and other regions have a lot of respect for money eel glue, not only small whisker money, but also large whisker money. Osu Money is the money bladder of the Outer Harbor. In terms of appearance, the large beard money and the small beard money are very similar, and the glue body head has two long "whiskers". In order to distinguish the small whisker money in Hong Kong, according to the size of the "whisker", the money eel glue in the outer port is called "big beard money eel", as the name suggests, the "whisker" of the big beard money is larger than the "whisker" of the small beard money.
The large-scale money eel gum used to come mainly from San Francisco, USA, so it was originally also known as the "golden mountain maw". In fact, the origin of the ōsu crayon is Mexico, which is transported back to Hong Kong and the domestic market through the Chinese in San Francisco and other places. In the past, communication was not developed and information was blocked, so many people thought that the place of origin was San Francisco.
The species of the Otoshi money eel gum is the Totoaba of the Mai's head. Curiously, the area of the Local Money Quay is around 20 to 30 degrees north latitude in the Eastern Hemisphere, while the Outer Harbour Money Quay is almost at the same latitude in the Western Hemisphere. The scientific name of the species of Osu Money is The Totoaba of the Macheteus, also known as the California Totoaba and the California Canine Yellow Croaker.
Like the yellow-lipped fish, the Totoaba is one of the largest species in the totoaba family. According to Wikipedia and other sources, the Totoaba of Theomite can grow up to 2 meters long and weigh 100 kilograms. In fact, it can be much more than that. The 3.5 kg of large-beard money eel glue recorded in the Chaoshan region, according to the approximate conversion of "one pound of fish and one pound of glue", the weight of the fish can reach 350 kg. In an American folk source, it has also been recorded that the largest totoaba weighs 330 pounds.
In the past, the Totoaba of The machete was abundant and was once the most important economic fish in the Gulf of California, Mexico. The headfish fishery began in 1920, and historically, most of the commercial catch was exported from Mexico to restaurants in the United States, such as California and Arizona, because it was better to sell for a good price there. As a Chinese soup ingredient, the maw is mainly sold to the Chinese market, such as through the Chinese market in San Francisco and other places and then resold to Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia. This is also the reason why the large-bearded money eel glue was originally called "Golden Mountain Maw".
The consumption of head fish in the United States, coupled with the demand for head maw in the Chinese market in Southeast Asia, prompted local fishermen to intensively fish for it, and due to overfishing and other problems, the head fish became the first species in the world to develop from an economic fish to the threat of extinction.
According to official data, annual production of the head fish peaked at 2261 tonnes in 1942, decreased to 300 tonnes by 1958, and by 1975 it was only 58 tonnes per year. The Mexican government and experts from relevant departments were aware of the seriousness of the problem and issued a complete ban on fishing in 1975, while the head fish was listed as an endangered species in Mexico.
In 1976, the headfish was listed as endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and the United States prohibited its import except for scientific research.
In September 1978, the United States launched a symposium on ecological assessment of the headfish, and in 1979 it was listed as an endangered species by the American Ecological Society.
In 1986, it was included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 、
In 1996, it was listed as a critically endangered species by IUCN.
It can be said that the large-bearded money eel glue is now extremely rare in the market, and it is hoped that due to the attention of various governments, the Totoabalus of The Macquarie can be reproduced.