VOA标准英语2008年-French Fishing Industry Angry Over EU Restricti

Tuna fishermen in France are up in arms against a European Union decision to cut short their bluefin tuna season by two weeks - arguably depriving them of thousands of dollars in income. The decision was made because France had surpassed its tuna fishing quota¹ this year - but, as Lisa Bryant reports from the French port city of Marseille, it also reflects what may be a grim future for Europe's fishing industry.
　
Fishermen chat in Avignon, southern France, in front of their immobilized fishing boats after the European Commission called an early halt to industrial fishing at peak of the season, 2 July 2008

David Romeo would normally have wrapped up his short season fishing bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean² by now - about $20,000 richer. Instead, Romeo is idling on the dock of Marseille's commercial fishing port, incensed³ by a European Union directive ending France's bluefin season two weeks earlier than scheduled.

Romeo says area fishermen have hardly fished at all during their season, which begins in May. Bad weather kept them on land. Then the EU ordered the season to end in mid-June rather than the end of the month because France had already fished its yearly quota for bluefin tuna.

Now, Romeo and other fishermen are demanding compensation.

At an angry meeting on the docks last week, the fishermen took their boats to sea last week in protest - calling on authorities to compensate⁴ them for their lost income. Mourad Kahoul, president of the French tuna fishermen's union STM blasted the European Union for shortening the fishing dates - and the French government for allegedly cowing to Brussels.

Kahoul said there was no problem of lack of resources - there were plenty of bluefin tuna in the ocean. He said it was unfair that French fishermen had to stop fishing, while Spanish tuna fishermen could continue.

But environmentalists like Stephan Beaucher, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace France, argue that bluefin tuna is indeed a threatened species - and that the EU quotas⁵ to limit catches are in fact far too generous.

"The east Atlantic bluefin tuna stock has been caught at a level of 80 percent of adult fish over the last 12 years," he said. "This means that 80 percent of the fish that can reproduce have been caught."

The bluefin tuna come from the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean to spawn⁶ at around May. They return to the Atlantic around July. This period is peak fishing season for Romeo and other Mediterranean fishermen.

Some fishermen interviewed on Marseille's docks argued they have seen no drop in tuna during their years at sea.

But others, like Michel Martinez, who has been in the profession for 30 years, say bluefin tuna are disappearing from the Mediterranean. He says he sees fewer and fewer and fewer tuna - and especially fewer big fish.

Fifty-year-old Patrick Mameaux agrees. Like Martinez, he has been fishing for years.

Neither of his two children are fishermen. He did not want them to take up a profession that is in so much trouble.

Bluefin tuna is not the only fish threatened in Europe's oceans - and in oceans around the world. A 2005 report by the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization found that many fish species were either overfished or nearing their limits. In Europe, Beaucher of Greenpeace says swordfish, cod⁷ and anchovy⁸ are also overfished in Europe.

Roughly 70 percent of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean is consumed in Japan. But Europeans overall are the world's largest fish eaters - and their appetite is growing.

"In France and in the European countries, we have consumption of seafood⁹ that increases two percent a year," says environmentalist Stephan Beaucher. "And more globally, since the '90s, we are fishing 90-92 million metric tons per year.

Part of the answer Beaucher says lies in establishing strict fishing quotas that are sustainable and applicable internationally - along with cracking down on illegal fishing. There is also an idea of establishing "quality" labels for fish caught in sustainable ways. But environmentalists say Europeans and others must also stop eating so much fish.

But that may not be so easy. At the morning fish market in Marseille's old port, local resident Mimoun Taadou is buying swordfish - a threatened species, which sells here for a hefty $38 a kilo.

Taadou agrees that buying fish these days is expensive - and that fish are disappearing from the oceans. But, he says, Mediterranean people like himself need to eat fish - at least two times a week.

　

 

1 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。

4 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

5 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

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 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

8 anchovy   

n.凤尾鱼

参考例句：

• Waters off the Peruvian coast become unusually warm,destroying the local anchovy fishing industry.由于异常的高温，秘鲁海岸的海水温度变化异常，影响了当地的凤尾鱼捕捞业。
• Anchovy together with sweet-peppergarlic,milk,chicken stock,and add cheese toasted.奶油状的搅打鸡蛋，放在涂有凤尾鱼糊的吐司面包上。

9 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。