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Controlled Fishing in Amazon Area Helps Save Huge Endangered Fish

时间:2022-11-14 01:22:20

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A controlled fishing system in Brazil's Amazon River area is helping1 to save an endangered fish.

The fish is the pirarucú. It is also known in Brazil as arapaima. The pirarucú is believed to be the largest of 2,300 different kinds of fish known to live in the Amazon Basin. It can grow to be three meters long and weigh up to 200 kilograms.

The fish mostly live in lakes across large areas of the Brazilian Amazon. They are carnivores, meaning they feed on other fish.

The pirarucú is considered endangered because of overfishing. Illegal fishing activities left many communities struggling to find the fish, which traditionally is an important food.

In recent years, however, illegal fishing of the pirarucú has been sharply2 reduced. And the fish has increasingly3 been recovering. The Associated Press (AP) reports the improvements5 came after efforts that included close cooperation between communities and complex logistics.

One of the unusual things about pirarucú is that they need to breathe air to survive. The fish need to take at least one breath every 20 minutes. They rise to the surface to do so.

This behavior by the fish makes it easier to count how many pirarucú are active in an area. A count of the fish is now carried out once a year by fishermen trained to use the method. By law, only 30 percent of pirarucú in a certain area can be fished the following year.

Pirarucú fishing is now done once a year, around September, the period when water levels are lowest.

Efforts have led to increases in the pirarucú population in areas where it is used. In the Sao Raimundo area, there were 1,335 pirarucús in nearby lakes in 2011, when controlled fishing began. Last year, records showed there were 4,092.

In the Carauari area, the number of pirarucú rose from 4,916 to 46,839 between 2011 and 2021.

Manoel Cunha leads a group of workers involved in the rubber trade in Sao Raimundo. He told the AP the controlled fishing efforts have greatly reduced illegal catch operations in the area. "You have been on this river for days now, and you have not seen any fishing boats except the ones from our organizations," Cunha said. "There is no more room for them here."

A sister of Cunha, Rosilda, said the pirarucú bring money into the community. "Our pirarucú is so tasty, everybody that eats it falls in love with it and wants more," she said.

In the Amazon, the fish is generally salted, sun dried and sold in local markets. It is also exported to the United States and Mexico.

Processing of the fish is completed by members of the Association6 of Rural7 Producers of Carauari, known as Asproc. It is an organization created by local rubber workers who wanted to free themselves from slave-like working conditions.

The organization permits community members to share in the profits of harvesting the fish.

Asproc currently8 runs other programs on everything from waste control to community markets to higher education. The organization sells pirarucú to Brazil's main cities including Sao Paulo and Brasília. This is a complex process that involves several days of transportation by boat and road, taking up to two weeks.

Asproc has formed partnerships9 with two American government agencies10, the U.S. Forest Service and the Agency11 for International Development (USAID). Both have supported the area's controlled fishing and processing operations.

"This project is unique as it requires a strong governance structure," said Ted4 Gehr, USAID's mission12 director in Brazil. "Everybody is in agreement that they may have to sacrifice and not be able to fish all of the pirarucú that are available... but knowing that they'll reproduce13 more, and that in the long run they will be more valuable," Gehr added.

Words in This Story

logistics – n. the practical arrangements and process for something

unique – v. different from everyone or everything else

sacrifice – n. something valuable you give up in order to achieve something


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1 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
2 sharply UiRziL     
adj.锐利地,急速;adv.严厉地,鲜明地
参考例句:
  • The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
  • Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。
3 increasingly z8ix8     
adv.逐渐地,日益地,逐渐增加地
参考例句:
  • Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
  • I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。
4 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
参考例句:
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
5 improvements f867a4fdb09b251cca05d0a8937af271     
增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 ); 改进; 改善; 改良
参考例句:
  • improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
  • They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。
6 association 6O1yp     
n.联盟,协会,社团;交往,联合;联想
参考例句:
  • Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
  • I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。
7 rural OC8za     
adj.乡下的,田园的,乡村风味的
参考例句:
  • He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
  • We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市,去农村安家。
8 currently SvMzI2     
adv.通常地,普遍地,当前
参考例句:
  • Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
  • Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
9 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
10 agencies 0e418dcec84ec1fd8f830787bb2c3325     
n.代理( agency的名词复数 );服务机构;(政府的)专门机构;代理(或经销)业务(或关系)
参考例句:
  • There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations. 联合国有许多专门机构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The project is funded by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. 这项计划由世界银行和其他多国机构资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 agency iKcy0     
n.经办;代理;代理处
参考例句:
  • This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
  • He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。
12 mission fDIxX     
n.使命,任务,天职;代表团,使团
参考例句:
  • He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
  • I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。
13 reproduce yVkxZ     
v.生育,繁殖,复制,重做
参考例句:
  • The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
  • The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

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