美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas oyster farms collect their first harvest

Texas oyster¹ farms collect their first harvest

Transcript²

In 2019, Texas became one of the last coastal³ states to allow oyster farming. Now, the first farms have had their first harvests. (This piece originally aired April 3, 2023, on All Things Considered.)

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

In 2019, Texas became one of the last coastal states in the U.S. to approve commercial oyster farms. Now farms are starting to harvest the yield. Houston Public Media's Katie Watkins reports on the initial results.

KATIE WATKINS, BYLINE⁴: If you drive about an hour and a half southeast of Houston, to Bolivar Peninsula, and then take a boat, about a mile off the coast, you'll see black objects bobbing on the waves. They look like a flock of birds, but commenters on Facebook had different ideas, according to Hannah Kaplan.

HANNAH KAPLAN: It's an alien landing site...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.

KAPLAN: ...Or it's CIA doing secret research. Or it's a trap for your boats or something like that.

WATKINS: Kaplan is the founder⁵ of Barrier Beauties, the second permitted oyster farm in the state. The mysterious items are the mesh⁶ bags she uses to grow her oysters⁷.

KAPLAN: As the oysters grow, we move them from cage to cage so that they have room to grow and filter water.

WATKINS: The bags are attached to lines that are anchored to the sea floor on her 10-acre plot. Kaplan, who grew up in Houston, was working at a hotel in Aspen, Colo., when the pandemic hit. Her job shut down, so she started looking at this new Texas industry that sounded exciting.

KAPLAN: I'm still learning every day. They are live animals, so we can only do so much to control them.

WATKINS: The water and weather conditions can't be controlled, but Kaplan says there are some things they can do to shape how the oysters grow. Those include splitting...

KAPLAN: We just have to split them into different bags to give them room to breathe and grow.

WATKINS: ...And tumbling...

(SOUND OF OYSTERS TUMBLING)

WATKINS: ...Where the oysters are placed in a rotating tube.

KAPLAN: And it helps chip off the edges so that they grow with a deeper cup rather than longer.

WATKINS: That gives farmed oysters a different look from their wild counterparts.

LAUREN WILLIAMS: Oysters that are maricultured tend to just be prettier, and so they're more desirable for the half-shell market.

WATKINS: That's Lauren Williams with The Nature Conservancy in Texas.

WILLIAMS: I think oyster farming is one tool in the toolbox when it comes to how to create a more sustainable oyster industry in Texas.

WATKINS: She says farmed oysters can provide some of the same natural benefits as wild oysters, such as purifying the water. That matters because wild Texas oysters haven't fared well for years. They've suffered from drought, flood events and hurricanes - conditions that are exacerbated⁸ by human-caused climate change.

WILLIAMS: We're seeing larger storms, and with those storms comes sedimentation⁹. It's hard for reefs to recover from that sedimentation.

WATKINS: And without oyster reefs, coastal communities are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, like sea level rise and hurricane storm surge. Farmed oysters won't replace wild oysters, but they could help relieve some of the harvesting pressure. The majority of wild reefs in Texas are already close to harvesting, even though the oyster season is supposed to stay open through April.

JOE FOX: It's basically at the whim¹⁰ of nature and rather unpredictable.

WATKINS: That's Joe Fox. He's the executive director of Palacios Marine¹¹ Agriculture Research, located on the central Texas coast. Before that, he helped start the state's oyster farming industry.

FOX: What commercial oyster farming can do is level that playing field.

WATKINS: Fox says that made it pretty easy to get people on board. In 2019, state lawmakers passed legislation that gave Texas Parks and Wildlife the authority to develop the program.

FOX: In a very short period of time, we've kind of jump-started an industry.

WATKINS: Now there are four farms in the state, including Kaplan's, and other applications are in the works. That could mean different-tasting oysters because oysters are a bit like fine wine. Their taste reflects where they're grown, meaning each Texas farm has its own unique flavor.

For NPR News, I'm Katie Watkins in Galveston.

(SOUNDBITE OF GYVUS' "KOI")

1 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

7 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

8 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 sedimentation   

n.沉淀，沉积

参考例句：

• Sedimentation, the damage of a breach are problems, too. 而且沉积和决口的问题，也是存在的。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）
• Sedimentation and denudation play a role in exceptional cases. 沉积和剥蚀作用的影响只在特殊情况下起作用。

10 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。