VOA新闻杂志2022 墨西哥一小镇希望章鱼养殖场提振当地经济（在线收听）

The eight-armed sea animal known as the octopus is becoming a popular food in many parts of the world.

被称为章鱼的八爪海洋动物在世界许多地区正成为一种受欢迎的食物。

But, as more people want to eat them, the population in the wild is decreasing.

但是，随着越来越多的人想吃它们，野生章鱼的数量正在减少。

Experts blame rising ocean water temperatures and overfishing for their falling numbers.

专家将其数量的下降归咎于海水温度的上升和过度捕捞。

Octopuses do poorly in warm water.

章鱼在温暖的海水中生活得很差。

And since they are in great demand, fishermen can make more money by catching them in the wild.

由于它们的需求量很大，渔民可以通过在野外捕获它们来赚取更多的钱。

As a result, a small fishing village on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico is working with one of the country's universities.

因此，墨西哥南部尤卡坦半岛上的一个小渔村正在与该国的一所大学合作。

The group wants to find out if the sea animals can be farmed successfully.

该组织想知道这种海洋动物能否被成功养殖。

An octopus farm would help the local economy, which is being hurt because there are not as many octopi as usual.

章鱼养殖场将有助于当地经济发展，由于章鱼的数量不如往常那样多，当地经济正受到损害。

"Octopi" is one word for more than one octopus.

“Octopi”指的是章鱼的数量在一只以上。

"Octopuses" is another plural form of the word.

“Octopuses”是这个词的另一种复数形式。

Carlos Rosas is a biologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.

卡洛斯·罗萨斯是墨西哥城墨西哥国立自治大学的生物学家。

He is working to start an octopus farm in the fishing village of Sisal.

他正在西萨尔渔村开办一个章鱼养殖场。

Recently, Rosas showed reporters the farm.

最近，罗萨斯带记者参观了养殖场。

He reached into a large tank and pulled out a baby octopus, about the size of a small ball.

他把手伸进一个大水箱里，拿出一只小球大小的小章鱼。

The octopus lives in the tank with about 250 others.

这只章鱼和大约250只章鱼一起生活在这个水箱里。

The project aims to see if the babies can live to be large enough inside the tank to be sold for food.

该项目旨在观察这些小章鱼是否能在水箱里长到足够大，以作为食物出售。

Scientists and animal welfare activists have long been concerned about growing octopi inside tanks.

科学家和动物福利活动人士长期以来一直关注在水箱里养殖章鱼的问题。

The animals are believed to be able to think and also to feel happiness and worry.

他们认为这种动物能够思考，也能感受到快乐和烦恼。

Now, Rosas and his team think they may be able to keep the octopi healthy until they are large enough to sell.

现在，罗萨斯和他的团队认为，他们或许能够保持章鱼的健康，直到它们长大到可以出售为止。

They have created an octopus food made from fish waste, like heads, that are normally thrown back into the ocean by fishermen.

他们用鱼头等通常被渔民扔回大海的废弃物制造出了一种章鱼食物。

The food is turned into small balls which are fed to the octopi.

这种食物被做成小球状，喂给章鱼。

Rosas said the farm gets what it needs for the octopi and the fishermen can make extra money by selling their unused fish parts.

罗萨斯说，养殖场获得了章鱼所需的东西，渔民可以通过出售他们不用的鱼器官来赚取额外的钱。

He said the plan is to make the fishing business more "efficient" and raise the number of octopi available for food.

他说，该计划的目的是提高渔业的效率并增加可供食用的章鱼数量。

If the project is successful, its timing will be just right.

如果该项目成功了，其时机将恰到好处。

One research company predicts that by 2025, the worldwide demand for octopus will increase by over 60 percent from 2018.

一家研究公司预测，到2025年，全球对章鱼的需求将比2018年增加60%以上。

A Spanish company wants to test the octopus food created by the university researchers.

一家西班牙公司想要测试由该大学研究人员创造的这种章鱼食物。

If it is successful, Nueva Pescanova will try to open its own octopus farm.

如果成功，Nueva Pescanova将会尝试开设自己的章鱼养殖场。

Biologists, however, are not sure an octopus farm will be successful, even with the right food.

然而，即使有合适的食物，生物学家还是不确定章鱼养殖场是否会成功。

Sarah McAnulty studies octopi.

莎拉·麦克纳尔蒂研究章鱼。

She said the animals need to have a lot of space.

她说，这种动物需要有很大的空间。

They may even try to eat each other or bite their own arms.

它们甚至可能试图吃掉对方或咬自己的爪子。

"When you want an animal to be raised for farming, you want a lot of them in a relatively small space, and so you can't really keep them happy together," McAnulty said.

麦克纳尔蒂说：当你想要养殖一种动物时，你想要在一个相对较小的空间里饲养很多，所以你不能真正让它们在一起快乐。”

Even with the risks, Rosas said it is a good time to try to raise octopi on a farm.

尽管存在风险，罗萨斯说，现在是尝试在养殖场养殖章鱼的好时机。

If the farms are successful, the number of animals in the wild can increase.

如果养殖场成功，野生章鱼的数量可能会增加。

But the conservation group Oceana said the Mexican government should work harder to help the wild octopus population.

但环保组织Oceana表示，墨西哥政府应该更加努力地帮助增加野生章鱼的数量。

Renata Terrazas is vice president of the Mexican part of Oceana.

雷纳塔·特拉萨斯是Oceana墨西哥地区的副主席。

She said the government should do a better job regulating how much fisherman can catch.

她说，墨西哥政府应该更严格地规范渔民捕捞章鱼的数量。

She said it is not a good sign for the environment if a nation is trying to keep the seafood business alive by developing farms.

她说，如果一个国家试图通过发展养殖场来维持海鲜行业的生存，这对环境来说不是一个好迹象。

She said the message the effort sends is: "I don't want to do anything with the oceans and I don't care if we are depleting them."

她说，这一行动传递出的信息是：“我不想对海洋做任何事情，我也不在乎我们是否在消耗它们。”

Rosas said he believes more work needs to be done to make sure octopi raised on farms are healthy.

罗萨斯说，他认为需要做更多的工作来确保养殖场饲养的章鱼是健康的。

But he added, it is important to think about the fishermen in the village, who are very poor.

但他还说，重要的是要考虑到村里的渔民，他们非常穷。

A successful octopus farm will lift the economy.

一个成功的章鱼养殖场将提振经济。

I'm Dan Friedell.

丹·弗里德尔为您播报。