Nagai Fruit From the Palm Trees: Science Fiction

The sun shone gold above the rippling silver of the water. Maryam sighed and leaned back beneath the palm tree. Her back ached from the hard work of the day, cutting palm fronds and climbing the trees to retrieve their golden burden of nagai fruits, but it had been worth it. She'd found six nagai fruits, a better haul than she'd had in many months. With that she could buy a new boat to fish with, and maybe even a speaker to talk to the merfolk. She'd heard that they could be bargained with to herd fish into the nets, that they could warn of storms, and if they took a particular fancy to a person they might even lead them to a sunken ship from the colonization. She'd heard of people finding seeds still freshpacked.

Inspiration: vaguely reggae-sounding music by Matisyahu.
Story Potential: Medium.
Finished Length: ?
Notes: merfolk indigenous aliens. plant life scarce. seas abundant. etc.