VOA慢速英语--在美国被遗忘的鲟鱼归来

Sturgeon: America’s Forgotten Fish Making a Comeback

Sturgeon once were America’s disappearing dinosaurs¹. The fish look like prehistoric² creatures, with armor plates covering their bodies. They have been around so long, they once swam with dinosaurs.

In modern times, they used to crowd the American rivers. But peoples’ desire for expensive caviar -- fish eggs -- nearly made sturgeon disappear.

More than a century later, some of the huge bottom feeding fish are showing signs of a comeback in American waterways.

Increased numbers are appearing in the cold streams of Maine, the lakes of Michigan and Wisconsin and the dark brown waters of Florida’s Suwannee River.

?Greg Garman is an ecologist at Virginia Commonwealth³ University in Richmond, Virginia. He studies Atlantic sturgeon living in Virginia’s James River. He said there has been a major change in their luck -- for the better.

“We didn’t think they were there, frankly⁴. Now, they’re almost every place we’re looking.”

Taken for their eggs

In the late 1800s, sturgeon fish were taken for their eggs. In the years that followed, America’s nine different kinds of sturgeon were harmed by pollution, dams and overfishing. But the sharp drops in many populations were not fully⁵ known until the 1990s.

Scientists have been finding sturgeon in places where they were thought to be long gone. And they are seeing more of them in some rivers because of increasingly clean water, dam removals and fishing bans.

While such news offers hope for one of the world’s most threatened fish, America’s sturgeon population is still just very small compared to what it once was.

Across America, dams still keep some sturgeon populations low because they block ancient paths the fish took to spawn⁶ -- or lay their eggs. New threats include rising water temperatures from climate change as well as sharp propellers⁸ of ships.

Swam with dinosaurs

Sturgeon swam with the dinosaurs. Bony plates line their bodies. Their toothless mouths move about, taking in anything to eat.

Sturgeon live for a long time, sometimes even longer than humans.

Their meat fed Native Americans and early settlers of the U.S.

Then came caviar. The Russian food of salt-treated sturgeon eggs became popular in Europe. The American sturgeon population suffered greatly.

“People just massacred them, just like we massacred the buffalo¹⁰,” said writer Inga Saffron. She wrote the 2002 book, “Caviar.”

“Not only did they kill the fish, they killed future generations of fish.”

Sturgeon do not spawn often. Experts say it will take many years to measure their population’s recovery.

Environmentalists say more efforts are needed to help sturgeon populations recover.

“They’ve survived relatively¹¹ unchanged for 200 million years,” said Jeff Miller¹², with the Center for Biological Diversity. The group is seeking federal safety measures for sturgeon in the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and the rivers and streams that flow into them.

He added, “If they’re going to survive us, they’re going to need additional protection.”

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

armor plate – n. bony pieces along its back for protection

stream – n. a natural flow of water that is smaller than a river

ecologist – n. a scientist that deals with the relationship between groups of living things and their environments

frankly – adv. in an honest and direct way

propeller⁷ – n. a device with two or more blades that turn quickly and cause a ship or aircraft to move

massacre⁹ – n. the violent killing¹³ of many people or living beings

buffalo – n. a large member of the Bovidae family

1 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

3 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

7 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

8 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

9 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

10 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。