2022年经济学人 拯救鲨鱼的绿光

Science & Technology

科技版块

Marine¹ conservation

保护海洋环境

A green light for saving sharks

拯救鲨鱼的绿光

Illuminating² fishing nets may reduce by-catch

照亮渔网会减少捕获量

Small-scale fisheries supply many people with food.

小型渔业为许多人提供食物。

Almost all of those who ply³ them rely on gillnets to trap their prey⁴.

几乎所有捕食者都依靠刺网诱捕猎物。

But gillnets trap other things, besides: endangered animals such as turtles; dangerous ones, such as Humboldt squid; and ones that are both endangered and dangerous, such as several types of shark.

但是刺网还能捕捉其他东西，比如濒危动物——海龟；危险的，如洪堡乌贼；还有既濒危又危险的物种，比如几种鲨鱼。

Everyone involved would be better off if this did not happen.

如果这种情况不发生，参与其中的每个人都会过得更好。

Building on studies done both by himself and by others, to try to avoid the accidental netting of turtles, Jesse Senko, a marine-conservation biologist at Arizona State University, has been investigating the idea of fitting light-emitting diodes (leds) to nets to ward⁵ off other unwanted by-catch without discouraging target animals from entangling⁶ themselves.

亚利桑那州立大学(Arizona State University)的海洋保护生物学家杰西·森科(Jesse Senko)在自己和其他人所做研究的基础上，试图避免意外捕获海龟，他一直在研究将发光二极管安装到渔网上的想法，可以缠住目标猎物的同时又能避开其他不想要的猎物。

And, as he reports in Current Biology, it seems to work.

而且，正如他在《当代生物学》上所报道的那样，这似乎奏效了。

His particular concern was for the safety of elasmobranchs, as sharks, rays and skates are called collectively.

他特别担心的是板鳃鱼的安全，板鳃鱼是鲨鱼、魟鱼和鳐鱼的统称。

While sharks are better known for their sensitive nostrils⁷ than their keen eyesight—some species famously being able to smell traces of blood in vast quantities of water—many have acute vision, too.

与敏锐的视力相比，鲨鱼更为人所知的是它们灵敏的鼻孔，——一些鲨鱼以能够在大量水中闻到血迹而闻名，不过许多鲨鱼也有敏锐的视力。

And, though colloquially⁸ referred to as "fish", elasmobranchs are actually less closely related to teleosts (the bony fish that predominate on most fishmongers’ slabs) than turtles are, so their visual systems might easily be as different.

虽然俗称为“鱼”，但板鳃鱼与硬骨鱼（硬骨鱼在大多数鱼贩的鱼板上占多数）的亲缘关系实际上不如海龟，所以它们的视觉系统很可能与海龟一样不同。

It thus seemed worthwhile checking to see whether the trick that worked with turtles would work with sharks.

因此，似乎值得试一试，看看对海龟有效的方法是否对鲨鱼也有效。

Dr Senko and his colleagues therefore set up an experiment in the Gulf⁹ of Ulloa, off the coast of Baja California, in Mexico, in which they collaborated¹⁰ with local fisherfolk to deploy¹¹ over 10,000 metres of nets that had had battery-powered waterproof¹² green leds clipped onto them at ten metre intervals¹³.

因此，森科博士和他的同事们在墨西哥加利福尼亚州海岸外的乌洛亚湾进行了一项实验，他们与当地渔民合作，部署了超过1万米的渔网，这些渔网上每隔10米就夹着电池供电的防水绿色发光二极管。

(Green leds are more efficient than those of other colours, and their light better penetrates¹⁴ seawater.)

（绿色发光二极管比其他颜色的发光二极管效率更高，而且它们的光更能穿透海水。）

In half of the nets these lights were illuminated¹⁵.

渔网中的二极管，一半被照亮。

The other half were left unlit, as controls.

另一半作为对照，没有点亮。

Each lit net was paired with an unlit one, and the two were deployed¹⁶ alongside one another at prime fishing locations.

每个发光的网与一个不发光的网作对照，这两个网并排部署在主要的捕鱼地点。

The fishers' targets were Californian halibut and large groupers.

渔民的目标是加利福尼亚的大比目鱼和大型石斑鱼。

Dr Senko was interested both in what else got caught and whether the lights decreased catches of the target species.

森科博士感兴趣的是除此之外还捕捉到了什么，以及灯光是否减少了对目标物种的捕获量。

On the latter point, reassuringly¹⁷, they did not.

在后一点上，令人放心的是，并没有减少捕获量。

On the former, the lit nets caught 95% fewer kilograms of sharks, rays and skates.

关于前者，点燃的渔网捕获的鲨鱼、魟鱼和鳐鱼数量减少了95%。

In particular, several threatened species, including Munk’s devil ray (pictured) and the diamond stingray, turned up less often in the illuminated than the unilluminated nets.

特别值得一提的是一些濒危物种，包括芒克魔鬼鱼和钻石黄貂鱼，在有照明的渔网中出现的频率低于没有照明的渔网。

Humboldt squid were also discouraged.

洪堡乌贼出现的频率也低了。

(Cephalopods, the group of molluscs to which they belong, are also well known for their acute eyesight.)

（头足类是软体动物的一种，它们也以敏锐的视力而闻名。）

The advantage from the point of view of fisherfolk was that they needed to spend a lot less time clearing these hostile by-catches from their nets.

从渔民的角度来看，这样做的好处是，他们可以花更少的时间从渔网中清除这些有害的副渔获物。

And, crucially, the leds concerned are cheap, robust¹⁸ and easy to fit.

而且至关重要的是，用到的发光二极管价格便宜，坚固耐用，易于安装。

There are also plans to make them solar powered, for easy recharging.

为了方便充电，还计划让它们使用太阳能。

Here, then, is a conservation idea from which everyone wins.

这就是一个人人都能从中受益的环保理念。

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

3 ply   

v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲

参考例句：

• Taxis licensed to ply for hire at the railway station.许可计程车在火车站候客。
• Ferryboats ply across the English Channel.渡船定期往返于英吉利海峡。

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

6 entangling   

v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We increasingly want an end to entangling alliances. 我们越来越想终止那些纠缠不清的盟约。 来自辞典例句
• What a thing it was to have her love him, even if it be entangling! 得到她的爱是件多么美妙的事，即使为此陷入纠葛中去也值得！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

8 colloquially   

adv.用白话，用通俗语

参考例句：

• For some little time the Jurymen hang about the Sol's Ams colloquially. 那些陪审员在太阳徽酒店里呆着，东拉西扯地谈了一会儿。 来自辞典例句
• This building is colloquially referred to as the barn. 这个建筑，用通俗的话来说就是一个谷仓。 来自互联网

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

11 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

12 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

13 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

14 penetrates   

v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透

参考例句：

• This is a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe. 这是一架能看到宇宙中遥远地方的望远镜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dust is so fine that it easily penetrates all the buildings. 尘土极细，能极轻易地钻入一切建筑物。 来自辞典例句

15 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

16 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

17 reassuringly   

ad.安心，可靠

参考例句：

• He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
• The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑，让人心里很踏实。

18 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。