VOA慢速英语2018--Highly Prized Fish Makes a Return

 

Wildlife experts are reporting increasing numbers of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantic bluefins are highly-prized by the fishing industry. The fish can weigh up to 454 kilograms. Its meat is often used in sushi products sold at Japanese restaurants.

But experts had been worried about the Atlantic bluefin. The species was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The United States government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric¹ Administration says improved law enforcement appears to be helping² the Atlantic bluefin recover after years of overfishing.

The popular fish all but disappeared from the Gulf³ of Maine about 10 years ago. This year, fishers set a record by catching⁴ 30 Atlantic bluefin. One of the fish weighed 363 kilograms.

International regulators have eased the catch limits for U.S. fishermen this year, increasing the quotas⁵ by more than 180,000 kilograms.

But environmental groups warn increasing the new limits will undo⁶ years of wildlife protection efforts.

Grantly Galland is an officer of Global Tuna Conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"Scientists have been unable to determine whether or not the Atlantic bluefin population has recovered, so any decrease in the population now is bad for fishermen in the long term."

Tuna has been at the center of a long battle between the fishing industry and environmentalists. Fishers who can make large amounts of money on a single fish. Environmentalists seek to protect the Atlantic Bluefin. Yet many consumers are willing to pay high prices to eat them.

Walt Golet is a professor of marine⁷ biology at the University of Maine. He says probably no other fish has been more politicized than the Atlantic bluefin tuna.

"From an environmental point of view it's always…’let's try to back off a little bit and make sure that we always have enough fish,' and on the other side you have individuals and organizations that they're making a living off of that fish…and that's kind of where the assessment⁸ and management comes into play. It's kind of balancing all of those opinions and viewpoints."

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

assessment – n. the act of making a judgment⁹ about something; the act of examining something

consumer – n. someone who uses goods or services

determine – v. to be the cause of something; to learn something by getting information

regulator – n. an official who makes and enforces rules

species – n. a group of plants or animals that are similar and can produce young

1 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

2 helping   

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。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

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 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

7 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。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。