DONGSHAN, Fujian: Teenager Shen Yaozhong sat with his father in their wooden fishing boat as they drifted out to sea one day in 1961. They were facing a week of bad luck, during which they had failed to track a school of fish, and their vessel was being blown off course by a forthcoming storm.

Suddenly, their boat jerked back and stopped. Shen's father knew exactly what had happened.

"Damn! Our fishing net got caught on reefs!" he yelled. He knew he needed the net to feed his family, and he also knew he could not afford another one.