美国国家公共电台 NPR Gulf Oyster Reefs Are Hurting. Now There's Help From Oil Spill Aid Money

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Oyster¹ harvests along the Gulf² Coast have been in decline for decades now. Actually, this year, Alabama canceled its season because there were so few oysters³. NPR's Greg Allen reports that help may be on the way thanks to millions of dollars in aid after the BP oil spill.

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GREG ALLEN, BYLINE⁴: Off Cedar⁵ Key on Florida's West Coast, this is some of the most pristine⁶ water in the Gulf. It's long supported a thriving seafood⁷ industry. Sue Colson, a city commissioner⁸ here, says one of the best places to harvest oysters used to be the Lone⁹ Cabbage oyster reef. When the tide was really low, she says, there were so many oysters you could walk along the reef and pick them up.

SUE COLSON: We would pull our children out of school on a really, really, really, really blowout tide. And everybody would pick up and get as many as you could in that time that they were exposed.

ALLEN: Those days are long gone on Lone Cabbage Reef. Over the last 30 years, Peter Frederick, a wildlife ecologist from the University of Florida, says oysters that build and make up the reef have died off.

PETER FREDERICK: So once they die and you lose those, then the reef starts degrading and losing elevation¹⁰. So we've been seeing about three to four inches loss a year of elevation, which is a lot out here.

ALLEN: When the reef is gone, it leaves behind sandbars that young oysters can't attach to. It's a problem seen throughout the Gulf. Scientists say 80 percent of the oyster reefs have been lost in recent decades. There are many reasons - overharvesting, drought, even hurricanes. But Frederick says a major factor is a lack of fresh water. Agriculture and development is claiming much of the water that used to flow down rivers, leaving estuaries¹¹ like this one too salty.

FREDERICK: The Eastern oyster, which is what we have here, likes an intermediate salinity¹². It doesn't like full-strength seawater. And at high salinities, it tends to become susceptible¹³ to its diseases and parasites¹⁴. And so they tend to decline fairly rapidly.

ALLEN: Here and throughout the Gulf, a lot of work is going on to help oysters and the communities that depend on them. Frederick has been overseeing efforts to restore Lone Cabbage Reef. It's a nearly $7 million project that has rebuilt the 3 1/2 mile long reef. Standing¹⁵ on a barge¹⁶ alongside it, Frederick says instead of oyster shells, this reef was rebuilt using rock.

FREDERICK: Well, we've had to have heavy equipment like barges¹⁷ and cranes, trucks and breaking equipment at a quarry¹⁸ in order to get all this stuff out here.

ALLEN: It's a project paid for with money from the BP oil spill settlement. Billions of oysters were killed in the spill, and that was just a small part of the extensive damage done to the environment. One hundred and sixty million dollars of the fund is earmarked for oysters.

BOB BENDICK: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is a unique - maybe once in a generation or forever opportunity to reverse the decline of oysters in the Gulf.

ALLEN: Bob Bendick is overseeing several projects to restore oysters in the Gulf for the Nature Conservancy. The group has recently helped rebuild an oyster reef in Texas' Matagorda Bay. It's beginning a similar project soon in Florida's Pensacola Bay. Bendick says one idea being discussed is a project that would build a chain of new oyster reefs across the Gulf.

BENDICK: They could be kind of oyster sanctuaries¹⁹ that would produce more oysters.

ALLEN: On Florida's Big Bend coast, there's a lot of support for efforts to rebuild oyster reefs. Fishing, harvesting oysters, crabs²⁰ and clams²¹ is an industry and a way of life here that's long been under pressure. Jack²² Payne, who directs natural resource research at the University of Florida, says restoring the reefs may also help prepare us for climate change.

JACK PAYNE: Oyster reefs are wonderful natural barriers to storms and hurricanes that we're going to see more of and sea level rise. So this is something that we hope we can apply throughout the Florida coastal²³ system.

ALLEN: On Lone Cabbage, there are already encouraging signs. Researchers say young oysters are beginning to show up on the reef. Greg Allen, NPR News, Cedar Key, Fla.

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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 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。

3 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。

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 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

6 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

7 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

10 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

11 estuaries   

（江河入海的）河口，河口湾( estuary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We also recognize the diversity and complexity of controlling in fluences in estuaries. 我们也认识到在河湾内控制影响的多样性和复杂性。
• Estuaries also contribute to economy through tourism and fishing. 河口还为人类提供了休闲和教育的场所。

12 salinity   

n.盐分；咸度；盐浓度；咸性

参考例句：

• In the sea water sampled the salinity is two parts per thousand.在取样的海水中，盐度为千分之二。
• In many sedimentary basins the salinity of the formation water increases with depth or compaction.在许多沉积盆地中，地层水的含盐量随深度或压实作用而增高。

13 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

14 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

17 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

18 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

19 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

20 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

22 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

23 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。