VOA标准英语2011--Scientists, Regulators Look to Save Smal

Scientists, Regulators Look to Save Smaller Fish in Marine¹ Food Chain

Perhaps you've had salmon², tuna, or swordfish for dinner recently. Or maybe it's on the menu tonight. Every big fish that lands on your plate got that big by eating lots of little fish. If you don't have abundant small fish in the ocean, you won't have the big fish.
That's why scientists, fishery managers and advocacy groups are paying more attention to the small prey³ in the world’s oceans. Some environmental groups also want tighter regulation on ocean catches of these smaller fish, and that's making fishermen nervous.
Fisheries biologist Jen Zamon learned lots of things in graduate school, but how to get a newly-captured seabird to barf in a bucket was not one of them. She finds squirts of warm water down the gullet and squeezing the tummy does the trick.
Zamon and her team from the NOAA research station in Warrenton, Oregon, want to know what fish the diving birds at the mouth of the Columbia River are eating.
"Yeah, it's definitely anchovies," she says after examining the vomit⁴.
The day before, Zamon says, the vomit samples mostly contained half-digested surf smelt⁵. Other examples of prey fish include sardines⁷, herring and mackerel.
"Things like sardines and anchovy⁸, which are extremely abundant, are very important not just for fishery, but for feeding other creatures in the food web - mammals, birds, larger fish," she says. "It's very nice, we know these bird species are indicators⁹ of where these fish species of interest are."
This seabird dining survey is just one example of scientists paying greater attention to the fortunes of smaller fish. A significant transformation¹⁰ is even more noticeable among policy makers¹¹, managers and some environmental groups. Earlier this year, the Pew Environment Group started a campaign to protect small, schooling¹² fish.
"We knew it was the next logical step," says Paul Shively, who manages the campaign out of Portland, Oregon. "This issue is picking up more and more steam all across the nation. There's more and more attention, more and more science pointing to the fact that we need to make sure there's enough food in the oceans."
Another environmental advocacy group, called Oceana, is running a similar healthy ocean campaign. Conservationists report progress in moving fishery managers to base decisions not just on the "big money" fish, but on the entire ocean food web. Insiders call this "ecosystem-based management."
But when talks turns to limits on fishing for small, schooling fish, then resistance crops up. On America's West Coast, ocean advocates want fishery managers to cap quotas¹³ for bait fish at current levels and put a moratorium¹⁴ on any new fisheries.
Commercial fisherman Ryan Kapp of Bellingham, Washington, argues that the West Coast sardine⁶, anchovy and herring fisheries are already managed quite conservatively.
"Seeing that none of these stocks are overfished or even approaching overfished, I’d just as soon leave it alone," says Kapp. "We have enough regulations to keep track of as it is."
Environmentalists worry that rising global demand for seafood¹⁵ and fish meal will put pressure on small fish. At the Pew Environment Group, Paul Shively urges what he calls a precautionary approach.
"We don't need to wait until there is a crisis in our oceans to address an issue. For so many years, we've looked at our oceans and we wait until there is a collapse¹⁶ of a fishery before we take action. We're saying it doesn't hurt to have a new paradigm¹⁷ where perhaps we take some precautionary measures."
Shively has made that case to federal fishery advisors¹⁸ including Bob Emmett, a marine biologist with the federal oceans and atmosphere agency, NOAA. Emmett says it's premature¹⁹ to come down with a hard, regulatory hand.
"There are still a lot of data needs," Emmett says. "If you are actively²⁰ managing these fishes, that means you have a lot of information. We don't believe at the time that we really have it."
The fortunes of small fish are also surfacing at the state level. The California legislature is considering a law to promote ecosystem-based management in nearshore state waters.

1 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。

2 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

5 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

6 sardine   

n.[C]沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• Every bus arrives and leaves packed as fully as a sardine tin.每辆开来和开走的公共汽车都塞得像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤。
• As we chatted,a brightly painted sardine boat dropped anchor.我们正在聊着，只见一条颜色鲜艳的捕捞沙丁鱼的船抛了锚。

7 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

8 anchovy   

n.凤尾鱼

参考例句：

• Waters off the Peruvian coast become unusually warm,destroying the local anchovy fishing industry.由于异常的高温，秘鲁海岸的海水温度变化异常，影响了当地的凤尾鱼捕捞业。
• Anchovy together with sweet-peppergarlic,milk,chicken stock,and add cheese toasted.奶油状的搅打鸡蛋，放在涂有凤尾鱼糊的吐司面包上。

9 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

10 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

13 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。

14 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

15 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。

16 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

17 paradigm   

n.例子，模范，词形变化表

参考例句：

• He had become the paradigm of the successful man. 他已经成为成功人士的典范。
• Moreover,the results of this research can be the new learning paradigm for digital design studios.除此之外，本研究的研究成果也可以为数位设计课程建立一个新的学习范例。

18 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

19 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

20 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。