VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - How Overfishing Threatens Asia's Wild Fish Stocks

 

Agriculture Report - How Overfishing Threatens Asia's Wild Fish Stocks

 

农业报道 - 过度捕捞威胁亚洲鱼类资源

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

The pressure to feed Asia's growing population has led to dangerous levels of overfishing near Pacific coastlines.

养活亚洲不断增长的人口的压力导致太平洋海岸沿线过度捕捞到达危险水平。

An example can be found in Sindangan, a fishing town in the southern Philippines. Wild catches are falling while prices are rising.

菲律宾南部小渔村Sindangan就是一个例子。野生渔获量不断下降而价格不断上涨。

This fisherman says the area's once healthy fish stocks are in danger because of an increase in the number of fishing boats.

这名渔民表示，由于渔船数量的增加，该地区曾经健康的鱼类资源处于危险之中。

Across the South China Sea, fish catches near shore have dropped since the nineteen eighties. That drop has pushed fishermen to go offshore¹ with bigger boats.

自上世纪80年代以来，整个中国南海的近岸渔获量有所下降。这种下降推动了渔民使用更大的船只到海面去捕鱼。

Benjamin Francisco is an official with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He says some of the methods they use to increase their catches are destructive.

本杰明·弗朗西斯科（Benjamin Francisco）是联合国粮农组织官员。他说，渔民用来增加渔获的一些方法是破坏性的。

"The use of fine mesh² net, the use of dynamite³ explosives for fishing, and other fishing gear, that catches juveniles⁴ or those that harvest maturing spawning⁵ stocks."

“他们使用细孔渔网，使用炸药炸鱼，还有捕捉幼鱼或成熟产卵群体的其它渔具。”

Fishing methods like these harm the ability of some species to reproduce. The fish warden⁶ in Sindangan, Julie Buot, says most of the local fishermen use fine mesh nets. Such nets have been banned for years because they catch very young fish.

这类捕鱼法伤害了一些物种的繁殖能力。Sindangan的鱼类督导员Julie Buot表示，多数本地渔民使用细孔渔网。这种网因为捕捉小鱼苗，已被禁用多年。

To deal with problems like this, Benjamin Francisco has been promoting the idea of licensing⁷ systems. The aim is to limit the number of boats on the water.

要处理这类问题，弗朗西斯科一直在推行许可制度的想法，目的是限制水面上船只的数量。

Asia has the world's largest fishing fleets. They represent nearly three million of the world's four million fishing vessels⁸. And most estimates show that the numbers are increasing.

亚洲拥有全球最大的捕鱼船队，在全球400万渔船中占到了近300万。大多数的估计显示，这一数量正在增加。

In Hong Kong, there are increased efforts to regulate fleets and to ban trawling for fish near shore. More than two hundred million dollars is being spent in an effort to increase catches by small fishing operations. So Ping-man of the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department is hopeful about the efforts. He expects catch values to increase.

香港加大了监管船队和禁止近案拖网捕鱼的力度。超过2亿美元投入到增加小型渔业作业渔获量的努力中。香港农业渔业自然资源保护署的So Ping-man非常看好这些努力。他预计捕捞值会上升。

But Hong Kong's measures are costly⁹. Benjamin Francisco says a lot of governments in Asia are not in a position to copy them. 

但香港所采取的措施代价不菲。弗朗西斯科表示，亚洲很多政府不会复制香港的办法。

"The issues are deeply rooted in poverty, the inability of local government to respond immediately, insufficiency of funds."

“这一问题深深植根于贫困，资金不足使得当地政府无法立即作出反应。”

In Sindangan, Wilfredo Ortega feeds a family of nine children from small-scale fishing. On a recent day, he caught only half a dollar's worth of fish. He had to return to shore early because of monsoon¹⁰ winds.

Sindangan的维尔弗雷多·奥尔特加（Wilfredo Ortega）通过小规模捕鱼养活了九个孩子的家庭。最近他只能捕到价值半美元的鱼。因为季风，他不得不提前回到岸边。

"In these months, it's quite tight," he says, talking about the difficulty of saving money. "We can only save during the months of November, December, January. We can save by catching¹¹ young sardines¹²."

“这几个月要存钱相当难，”他说着存钱的难度。“我们只能在11月，12月和1月通过捕捉小沙丁鱼存点钱。”

The young sardines may feed Mr. Ortega's family for now. But the catches today mean fewer mature fish tomorrow. And they mean an even riskier¹³ future for those who depend on fishing when no other work is available.

小沙丁鱼现在可以养活奥尔特加一家。但今天的捕捞意味着未来更少的成熟鱼类。对依靠捕鱼生活的人来说，在没有其它工作可做时，还意味着一个高风险的未来。

And that's the Agriculture Report in Special English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

 

1 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

2 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

3 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

4 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

5 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。

6 warden   

n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人

参考例句：

• He is the warden of an old people's home.他是一家养老院的管理员。
• The warden of the prison signed the release.监狱长签发释放令。

7 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

13 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。