VOA标准英语2011--South Korea Emerges as Unlikely Source o

South Korea Emerges as Unlikely Source of Caviar

The unfertilized eggs of the sturgeon have made the fish one of the world’s most valuable wildlife resources. Some 90 percent of the world’s caviar comes from sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, but uncontrolled fishing after the collapse¹ of the Soviet² Union has greatly reduced wild populations.
While nations around the Caspian (Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iran) have agreed to ban sturgeon fishing, entrepreneurs elsewhere in the world are working on sustainable ways to harvest the expensive roe³.
In Chungju, South Korea, one patient entrepreneur is claiming a 10-percent share of the global production of farmed caviar.
Along the banks of the Southern Han River, 50,000 captive sturgeon have found an ideal home.
The fish belong to former economist⁴ Han Sang Hun who, 17 years ago, brought a few hundred sturgeon back with him from a business trip to Russia. “I believe that there is no other place that can provide an abundant amount of the right water for sturgeon. The river’s level stays fairly constant here. So these waters are the ideal environment," he said.
One particular species of sturgeon swimming in these waters is the albino. And, its eggs are particularly precious. When they are put into cans like this one and auctioned⁵ in London they have fetched up to $40,000 per kilo.
“To produce superior caviar, the fish need to hibernate⁶ in water cooler than six degrees Celsius⁷ for 45 days during the winter," said Han Sung Hun.
Such attention to detail, spanning years of trial and error and patiently waiting more than a decade for the sturgeon to grow large enough, have allowed Han's fish farm to prosper⁸.
The Korean caviar is harvested without harming the fish.
In other countries, the ancient and critically endangered beluga, which can grow to several meters in length, and live up to 150 years, are stunned⁹ or killed to find out if they have a stash¹⁰ of the lucrative¹¹ eggs.
“Some [Russians] poke¹² the fish with a screwdriver¹³ to see if they are ready to spawn¹⁴ and then drag the roe out. We do not need to do that because we discovered by accident how to feel their bellies¹⁵ to determine if they are ready to produce," said Han.
Han says he does not worry about potential competitors, whether they are in his back yard, where others have already tried and failed, or from other countries. Global conservation measures, strictly¹⁶ regulating exports, combined with an insatiable appetite among the wealthy, will keep demand for caviar far outpacing the supply.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

4 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。

5 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 hibernate   

v.冬眠，蛰伏

参考例句：

• Bears often hibernate in caves.熊常在山洞里冬眠。
• Some warm-blooded animals do not need to hibernate.一些温血动物不需要冬眠。

7 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

8 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

9 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

10 stash   

v.藏或贮存于一秘密处所；n.隐藏处

参考例句：

• Stash away both what you lost and gained,for life continues on.将得失深藏心底吧，为了那未来的生活。
• That's supposed to be in our private stash.这是我的私人珍藏。

11 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

12 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

13 screwdriver   

n.螺丝起子；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。
• The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.这把电钻也可用作螺丝刀。

14 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。

15 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

16 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。