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Save The Sharks 拯救鲨鱼

 

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One-third of the world’s sharks, skates and rays face extinction  世界上三分之一的鲨鱼、鳐鱼和魟鱼面临绝种命运

 

They call it the Jaws effect. Inspired by the 1975 movie about a great white shark that terrorized a tourist town, legions of fishermen piled into boats and killed thousands of the ocean predators in shark fishing tournaments.

他们称之为大白鲨效应。由于1975年的那部电影描写了一条大白鲨在一座观光城镇造成恐慌，大批渔民因此蜂拥上船在捕鲨竞赛中争相屠戮了数以千计的这种海中掠食动物。

 

Although most of the tournaments have shut down or gone to catch-and-release, a commercial shark fishing industry arose in their place to serve the Chinese demand for shark-fin soup, a luxury dish comparable to caviar.

这类竞赛虽然大部分都已停办，不然就是改为捕后放生，但商业捕鲨业却因应华人对鱼翅汤的需求而兴起。鱼翅汤这种奢华的菜肴，可与鱼子酱匹敌。

 

Today, about 345 of 1,044 species of the world’s sharks, skates and rays are threatened with extinction, according to an article published in the most recent issue of the journal Science. It also raises the possibility that in a few generations the oceans will lose layers of predators that keep marine ecosystems in balance.

最近一期的《科学》期刊登的一篇文章指出，当今全球一千零四十四种的鲨鱼、鳐鱼和魟鱼当中，约有三百四十五种已面临绝种的威胁。这篇文章也指出，再过几个世代，海洋里若干层级的掠食动物恐将绝迹，而这些动物有助维持海洋生态体系的平衡。

 

“The Web of Life”  「生物网络」

 

“They’re an important part of the web of life,” said Jack Musick, emeritus professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, who supervised the study. “The larger animals that are apex predators are the force of natural selection. And we owe it to our kids and our grandchildren to leave them the same level of biodiversity that we enjoyed.”

「牠们是生物网络中非常重要的一部分，」研究主持人维吉尼亚海洋科学研究院名誉教授杰克．慕席克表示：「身为顶极掠食者的较大型动物是自然汰择的力量，我们有义务为后代保留我们所享有的同等生物多样性。」

 

Jeff Torode, who operates South Florida Diving Headquarters, said he’s noticed a sharp decline in the 20 years or so he’s led underwater expeditions.

南佛罗里达潜水总部负责人杰夫．托罗德指出，在他带领水下探险活动的廿年左右的期间，他注意到鲨鱼的数量大幅减少。

 

“You used to be able to see Caribbean reef sharks, you’d see bull sharks, you’d see a hammerhead occasionally, we’d see blacktips in the shallows,” he said. “Right now you’re lucky if you see a shark in 10 or 20 dives. You see a bull shark once in a while on the deeper wrecks. The only species you will see with any regularity is the nurse shark.”

「以前常可看见加勒比礁鲨、公牛鲨（译注：或称公牛白眼鲛、低鳍真鲨），偶尔也可看到双髻鲨，在浅水区还可看到黑鳍鲨，」他说：「现在如果潜水十次或廿次可以看到一条鲨鱼就算幸运了。在深海的沉船残骸处，偶尔可以看到一条公牛鲨。唯一比较常见的就是铰口鲨（译注：或称护士鲨）。」

 

What makes sharks particularly vulnerable, despite their fearsome reputation, is their low reproductive rate and late age of sexual maturity.

鲨鱼虽然名声令人生畏，却因繁殖率低，性成熟年龄又比较晚，所以特别脆弱。

 

 

 

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terrorize [ˋtɛrə͵raɪz] v. 使恐怖

skate [sket] n.【鱼】鳐；灰鳐；魟鱼

emeritus  [ɪˋmɛrɪtəs] adj. 荣誉退休的 retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement

supervise [ˋsupɚvaɪz] v. 监督；管理；指导

owe [o] v. 对…负有…的义务 to have a moral obligation to render or offer

biodiversity [baɪo͵daɪˋvɝsətɪ] n. 生物多样性

hammerhead [ˋhæmɚ͵hɛd] n. 双髻鲨

 

 

 

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Survival of the sharks  鲨鱼的生存

 

A save-the-shark spirit has taken hold among many people in the sportfishing business, with many going toward catch-and-release fishing. Gray Taxidermy Inc., a Florida company that claims to be the world’s largest marine taxidermist, announced it would refuse to accept sharks, telling fishing captains it would make their clients fiberglass replicas from measurements of the live shark before its release.

钓鱼运动（译注：或称休闲钓鱼，即为了休闲消遣而钓鱼，而非商业性的捕鱼，也并非靠食用自己捕来的鱼维生）界的许多人士都抱有拯救鲨鱼的精神，很多人都改采捕后放生的钓鱼方式。佛罗里达州的灰色标本剥制公司号称是全球最大的海洋生物标本剥制商，该公司已宣布不再接受鲨鱼（标本剥制的委托案），而要求渔船船长活捉鲨鱼，（并在测量尺寸）之后予以放生，然后公司会依照测量数据为客户制作玻璃纤维的复制标本。

 

Tom Zsak, a charter captain in Fort Lauderdale, takes tourists out to catch golden hammerheads, tiger sharks, makos and other species. But since last year, he doesn’t let them kill the sharks, explaining to them their importance to ocean ecosystems. If a client wants a mount, he measures the shark quickly for the taxidermist and lets it go, having allowed his client to experience an exciting fight with a powerful predator.

罗德岱堡出租船船长汤姆．札克带领游客出海捕捉黄金双髻鲨（译注：直译，或称小眼双髻鲨）、虎鲨、灰鲭鲨及其他品种的鲨鱼，但从去年开始，他已不再让游客杀害鲨鱼，也会向们说明鲨鱼对海洋生态体系的重要性。如果有游客想要复制标本，他就会让对方体验和这种力量强大的掠食动物搏斗的刺激，并（在捉到鲨鱼之后）迅速测量尺寸以交给标本制作师，然后加以放生。

 

“When you get one on a rod and reel, it’s unbelievable,” Zsak said. “But it’s getting to the point where I understand about letting things survive, even sharks.”

「一旦用钓竿和卷线器钓到鲨鱼，那种感觉实在棒得难以置信，」札克表示：「但我现在已懂得该让其他生物活下去，甚至包括鲨鱼在内。」

 

Live and Let Live  共存共荣

 

The shortfin mako, the world’s fastest shark, faces several threats. They are good to eat, Musick said, and they get caught in the nets and longlines of the commercial swordfish and tuna fisheries. “When they are taken on longline gear, they start thrashing around very actively and they can’t swim actively enough to irrigate their gills, so they die on the line,” he said. “That whole scenario is true for a whole suite of sharks.”

尖吻鲭鲨是世界上速度最快的鲨鱼，目前却面临了不少威胁。慕席克表示，这种鲨鱼很好吃，剑旗鱼（译注：或称剑鱼）和鲔鱼的商业捕鱼活动所使用的渔网和延绳钓具经常误捉到尖吻鲭鲨。「牠们一旦被延绳钓具勾住，就会开始激烈扭动身体，却因为无法活跃游动导致鳃得不到滋润，所以总是会死在延绳上，」他表示，「这种情形对各种鲨鱼都是一样。」

 

Hammerheads, once common in Florida waters, have become rarer as well.

过去在佛州海域颇为常见的双髻鲨，如今也变得比较罕见了。

 

“The hammerheads also have a number of strikes against them,” said conservationist Sonja Fordham. “They have particularly high-value fins for shark-fin soup. Scalloped hammerheads tend to form big schools and if you’re taking just the fins you can kill a lot of them on one trip. They have very high mortality on fishing gear.”

「双髻鲨也遭受了不少冲击，」保育人士桑妮亚．佛德罕说：「双髻鲨的鳍是特别珍贵的鱼翅汤材料。红肉双髻往往会形成庞大的鱼群，如果只是要割取牠们的鳍，那么出海一趟所杀害的数量就可能很多。这种鲨鱼死于钓具的比例很高。」

 

 

 

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take hold 生根; 扎根 to become established

taxidermy [ˋtæksə͵dɝmɪ] n.（动物标本）剥制术

taxidermist [ˋtæksə͵dɝmɪst] n.（动物标本）剥制者（或师）a craftsman who stuffs and mounts the skins of animals for display

fiberglass [ˋfaɪbɚ͵glæs] n. 玻璃纤维，玻璃棉

charter [ˋtʃɑrtɚ] v.（船只，巴士，飞机等的）租赁; 包租 the hire or lease of transportation

mount [maʊnt] n. 底座; 座架 an object to which another is affixed or on which another is placed for accessibility, display, or use; a backing, setting, or support onto which something is fixed

mako [ˋmɑko] n.（大西洋和太平洋发现的）条纹状鲨鱼

longline ['lɔŋlaɪn] n. 多钩长线

swordfish [ˋsord͵fɪʃ] n. 箭鱼

gill [gɪl] n.（鱼）鳃

suite [swit] n. 系列 a group of related things intended to be used together; a set

scalloped [ˋskɑləpt] adj. 饰有荷叶边的；装扇形边的

mortality [mɔrˋtælətɪ] n. 死亡率 death rate

 

 

 

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So what are we going to do about it?  我们该怎么做？

 

At the most recent Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the forum through which governments establish rules to protect wildlife, the United States proposed restrictions in the trade of three species of hammerheads, the great, scalloped and smooth hammerheads. All have particularly high-value fins prized for soup. But the proposal failed.

 

濒临绝种野生动植物国际贸易会议是各国政府制定野生生物保护规范的论坛，在其最近一次举行的会议上，美国提议对三种双髻鲨的交易行为加以限制，包括大双髻鲨、红肉双髻与锤头双髻鲨。这几种双髻鲨的鳍全都是极为珍贵的鱼翅汤食材。不过，这项提案并未获得通过。

 

The next opportunity to restrict international shark fishing took place November 17-27 in Paris, where representatives of 48 countries gathered for a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which manages sharks in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

限制国际捕鲨活动的另一次机会出现于巴黎，在十一月十七至廿七日间，四十八个国家的代表齐聚一堂，参与管理大西洋鲨鱼的国际大西洋鲔鱼类资源保护委员会所举行的会议。

 

Jill Hepp, manager in the Global Shark Conservation Campaign for the Pew Environmental Group, said her organization was at the meeting advocating limits on the catch of mako and oceanic whitetip sharks. They also supported international restrictions on finning, a practice banned in the United States, in which the valuable fins are cut off the shark and the dead or dying animal is thrown back into the ocean.

 

皮尤环境组织全球鲨鱼保育运动的主持人吉儿．赫普表示，她的组织在会议上提倡限制灰鲭鲨与远洋白鳍鲨（译注：或称污斑白眼鲛）的捕捉数量，也支持针对割鳍行为设立国际性的限制。割鳍的做法就是把鲨鱼身上富有价值的鳍割下来，然后把已经死亡或垂死的鱼体丢回海里，美国已禁止割鳍的行为。

 

Good news for the sharks  鲨鱼的好消息

 

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas announced some new restrictions on fishing November 27. According to a press release from ICCAT, these measures “forbid the retention and trade of white-tip and hammerhead shark species in order to increase their survival.” The organization also says it is conducting research in the hopes of better understanding and protecting areas where sharks breed and nurse.

 

国际大西洋鲔鱼类资源保护委员会在十一月廿七日宣布了若干新的捕鱼限制。该委员会发布的新闻稿指出，这些措施「禁止捕捉及交易远洋白鳍鲨与双髻鲨，以增加这些物种的存活机会」。该委员会也表示，目前正在进行研究，期盼能进一步了解及保护鲨鱼繁殖及哺育的海域。

 

While ICCAT is mainly involved in managing tuna species, it has become concerned as well with the protection of other wildlife that can become accidentally trapped in tuna fisheries, such as sharks and sea turtles. Also discussed at the meeting were management measures for bigeye and bluefin tuna and North Atlantic swordfish.

 

国际大西洋鲔鱼类资源保护委员会的主要职责虽是管理各品种的鲔鱼，却也相当关注可能遭到捕鲔鱼活动意外误捕的其他野生生物，例如鲨鱼和海龟。会议上也讨论了大目鲔与黑鲔鱼及北大西洋剑旗鱼的管理措施。

 

－by David Fleshier

 

 

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Vocabulary Focus

legion [ˋlidʒən] n. 众多，大量[（+of）] a large number of people

predator [ˋprɛdətɚ] n. 食肉动物；掠夺者 an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals

comparable [ˋkɑmpərəb!] adj. 可以与…相比,比得上… similar in size, amount or quality to something else

apex [ˋepɛks] n. 顶，顶点 the highest point or most successful part of something

vulnerable [ˋvʌlnərəb!] adj. 脆弱的 able to be easily physically hurt or attacked

fearsome [ˋfɪrsəm] adj. 令人生畏的 frightening

thrash [θræʃ] v. 翻跳，扭动 to make a series of wild, violent movements; to move from side to side in a violent or uncontrolled way

irrigate [ˋɪrə͵get] v. 滋润 to supply with a flow of water

forum [ˋforəm] n.〔人们能公开讨论重要话题的〕论坛 a meeting in which people can talk about a problem or matter, especially of public interest

advocate [ˋædvəkɪt] v. 拥护；提倡；主张 to publicly support or suggest an idea, development or way of doing something

 

 

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fauna [ˋfɔnə] n. 动物群

bigeye [ˋbɪg͵aɪ] n. 大眼海鱼

 

 

Jaws Trailer 1975

 

 

Get to know Gray Taxidermy

 

 

Sharks: 21 Fast Facts About Conservation and Global Threats | Pew