美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ammunition shortage causes Alaska Natives to have trouble putting food on the table

Ammunition¹ shortage causes Alaska Natives to have trouble putting food on the table

Transcript²

A nationwide shotgun shell shortage is making it harder for Alaska Natives to hunt for food. Migratory³ birds are a main source of sustenance⁴ for many rural communities at this time of year.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

A nationwide shortage of ammunition means some Alaska Natives are having trouble putting food on the table. The cost of every shell and bullet is much higher than it was before the pandemic, raising concerns about food security in rural Alaska. Here's Emily Schwing.

EMILY SCHWING, BYLINE⁵: Sam Berlin (ph) grew up eating ducks, geese and other waterfowl in a remote roadless village in western Alaska.

SAM BERLIN: My mom would boil them, make soup out of them with other ingredients like onions, potatoes, corn.

SCHWING: Berlin, an Alaska Native elder who lives in Bethel, is an avid⁶ bird hunter. But he's had a hard time finding shells for his shotgun over the last few years.

BERLIN: The Bethel stores can't find any. I called to a couple of the villages and they're rationing⁷ also. So when I called up my brother in Anchorage, he told me I was lucky if I found one box.

SCHWING: There are hundreds of roadless communities in Alaska where store-bought food selection is both limited and very expensive. So many people rely heavily on subsistence. It's a lifestyle. It means putting food away in freezers all spring, summer and fall for the long winter ahead. Kenneth Eric (ph) hunts for birds out of Chefornak, 200 miles southwest of Bethel.

Do you enjoy going hunting for birds?

KENNETH ERIC: Oh, yeah. A lot, yeah.

SCHWING: What do you like about it?

ERIC: Kind of therapy. It really helps with the mind and the body. Like, take out stress out there somewhere.

KENT HARRINGTON: There just is not the supply. There's the demand.

SCHWING: Kent Harrington manages VF Grace company based in Anchorage. It's a wholesale⁸ distributor of a wide range of goods, including ammunition.

HARRINGTON: Shotgun shells, centerfire cartridges⁹, rifle cartridges, rimfire, .22s, et cetera.

SCHWING: After decades in the wholesale business, Harrington says, he's only had a hard time stocking shelves one other time. Manufacturers point to a raw materials shortage and supply chain issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. A recent surge in gun ownership has also contributed to the lack of ammunition. The years 2020 and 2021 saw more gun sales than any other years in the last two decades. And Harrington says everything's just more expensive.

Like, if I were going to, you know, order a case wholesale of shotgun shells today, what price would I pay compared to three or four years ago?

HARRINGTON: November 1 of 2019, a box wholesaled¹⁰ for $10.33. Today, it's $16.33.

SCHWING: Add to that a freight charge to ship the shells by air to one of Alaska's remote communities and a hazardous¹¹ materials charge from the carrier and that price climbs beyond what some hunters, who rely on birds as a main food staple¹², can afford. Sam Berlin isn't too worried because he was able to stockpile four boxes of shells from last year.

BERLIN: When we grew up, me and my brother, my brother was mostly a driver. And I was the shooter. So I had a lot of practice.

SCHWING: Practice hunting for his large extended family, which includes three sisters, four brothers, their kids and eight children of his own.

For NPR News, I'm Emily Schwing in Bethel, Alaska.

(SOUNDBITE OF CARLOS NINO AND FRIENDS' "CALIMAYAN")

1 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

4 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

7 rationing   

n.定量供应

参考例句：

• Wartime austerities included food rationing and shortage of fuel. 战时的艰苦包括食物配给和燃料短缺。
• Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。

8 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

9 cartridges   

子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头

参考例句：

• computer consumables such as disks and printer cartridges 如磁盘、打印机墨盒之类的电脑耗材
• My new video game player came with three game cartridges included. 我的新电子游戏机附有三盘游戏带。

10 wholesaled   

v.批发( wholesale的过去式和过去分词 )；趸售，大规模买卖；批发（的）；大规模（的）

参考例句：

11 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

12 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。