万物简史 第404期:浩瀚的海洋(23)

 As of 1995, some 37,000 industrial-sized fishing ships, plus about a million smaller boats, 到1995年，世界上大约有37000越工业规模的渔船，加上大约100万条小型渔船。

were between them taking twice as many fish from the sea as they had just twenty-five years earlier. 它们每年从海里的捕鱼量是25年前的两倍。

Trawlers are sometimes now as big as cruise ships and haul behind them nets big enough to hold a dozen jumbo jets. 现在的拖网渔船有时候大得很像巡洋舰，后面拖的网大得能装下十几架大型客机。

Some even use spotter planes to locate shoals of fish from the air. 有的甚至使用侦察机从空中寻找鱼群。

It is estimated that about a quarter of every fishing net hauled up contains "by-catch", 据估计，每拖上来一网，大约有四分之一是“无意捕获物”，

fish that can't be landed because they are too small or of the wrong type or caught in the wrong season. 即因为太小而抓不住的鱼，或不该捞的鱼，或不该在那个季节捕的鱼。

As one observer told the Economist¹: "We're still in the Dark Ages. We just drop a net down and see what comes up." 正如一位观察员对《经济学家》杂志说的：“我们仍处于愚昧黑暗时代。我们只是把网一撤，看看能捞上来什么。”

Perhaps as much as twenty-two million metric tons of such unwanted fish are dumped back in the sea each year, mostly in the form of corpses². 每年大约有多达2200万吨这类不要的鱼倒回海里，大多数是以尸体的形式。

For every pound of shrimp³ harvested, about four pounds of fish and other marine⁴ creatures are destroyed. 每收获1千克虾，就有大约4千克鱼和别的海洋动物遭受灭顶之灾。

Large areas of the North Sea floor are dragged clean by beam trawlers as many as seven times a year, 北海的大片海床，每年要被横衔拖网渔船扫荡七次，

a degree of disturbance⁵ that no ecosystem⁶ can withstand. 哪个生态系统也受不了这等干扰。

At least two-thirds of species in the North Sea, by many estimates, are being overfished. 据许多人估计，北海至少有三分之二的鱼类处于过捕捞的状态。

Across the Atlantic things are no better. 在新英格兰近海，

Halibut once abounded⁷ in such numbers off New England that individual boats could land twenty thousand pounds of it in a day. 原来大比目鱼如此之多，分散的渔船一天可以捕捞到9000多千克。

Now halibut is all but extinct off the northeast coast of North America. 如今，大比目鱼在美国东北海岸附近几乎已经灭绝。

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

4 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。

5 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

6 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

7 abounded   

v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Get-rich-quick schemes abounded, and many people lost their savings. “生财之道”遍地皆是，然而许多人一生积攒下来的钱转眼之间付之东流。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Shoppers thronged the sidewalks. Olivedrab and navy-blue uniforms abounded. 人行道上逛商店的人摩肩接踵，身着草绿色和海军蓝军装的军人比比皆是。 来自辞典例句