“ when I brought the fish in too green”...what does "green" mean here?

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Hugo_Lin

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Hi, teachers:

I'm reading
Ernest Hemingway‘s novel
The Old Man and the Sea
and have difficulty understanding a sentence:

"...
you nearly were killed when I brought the fish in too green and he nearly tore the boat to pieces.
"

I'm very much confused how can a fish be brought in "too green"? What does it mean?
 

probus

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Hemingway means the fish was not sufficiently exhausted. It had far too much strength left when it was brought alongside (or perhaps into) the boat.

I've never seen or heard this usage of green in respect to fish anywhere else, but the meaning is crystal clear.
 

Hugo_Lin

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Student or Learner
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Chinese
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Hemingway means the fish was not sufficiently exhausted. It had far too much strength left when it was brought alongside (or perhaps into) the boat.

I've never seen or heard this usage of green in respect to fish anywhere else, but the meaning is crystal clear.
Many words and expressions of Hemingway are very unfamiliar to me.
 
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