VOA标准英语2012--Past Serves as Lesson in Sustainable Fishing

Past Serves as Lesson in Sustainable Fishing

Protect the catch

While some of the steps the ancient Hawaiians took to protect their catch are extreme by today’s standards, conservation experts would find many of them familiar.

When the first Europeans settled on the remote Pacific island chain of Hawaii in the 18th century, fishing had been going strong for centuries. 

Each local ruler made sure it stayed that way.

“If [the ruler's agent] decided¹ that the fish stock on a particular reef needed to rest - people had been fishing it too much - then he would put a kapu on that reef,” says geographer² Jack³ Kittinger of Stanford University's Center for Ocean Solutions.

Forbidden

“Kapu” roughly translates as “forbidden,” and that was enough for the local fishers, Kittinger says.

Capt. James Cook, the first European to reach Hawaii, saw the kapu system in action. 

Cook would see Hawaiian fishermen out on the water one day.

"The next day there was a kapu put on the bay by the local king, and no one was on the water," Kittinger says. "People obeyed these things.”

It was also kapu to catch skipjack tuna for roughly half the year, and mackerel scad the other half. 

Also, only a professional class of fishermen was allowed to fish in deeper waters and use certain types of equipment.

Overfishing

Those and other traditional methods kept the coral reef ecosystems⁴ producing as much or more fish as they are today. And they had done so for about 400 years before Europeans arrived, according to a study by Kittinger and his co-author published in Fish and Fisheries. 

Today, on the other hand, overfishing threatens the Hawaiian reefs, and more than half of the reefs around the world.

When Kittinger looks at today’s efforts to control overfishing, he sees a lot of parallels with the ancient Hawaiian practices. 

“They had basically the same tools in the toolbox that we have today," he says. "We do the same thing. We say, ‘You can use this gear here, but you can’t use it there. This area is off limits,’ and so on and so forth⁵. But the difference is how those strategies are implemented⁶.”

The difference, he says, is if you broke a kapu, “You’re in deep trouble,” he says. It could mean blinding or even death. 

Some other strategies are out of step with modern values. Women were forbidden from eating certain kinds of prized fish. Turtles were off-limits for everyone but chiefs and high priests. 

These rules had the effect of protecting these species. 

“We think that the fact that they were protected probably arose as a response to understanding that those species were vulnerable,” Kittinger says.

Living on remote islands in the middle of the ocean, subject to storms, droughts, tsunamis⁷ and so on, Kittinger says protecting the food supply was a matter of life and death for the ancient Hawaiians.

Lesson from the past

But with ocean ecosystems worldwide in decline, Kittinger says we could learn from their experience.

“These days, you get a slap on the wrist if you break a fisheries law," he says. "And it just tells us we don’t really take enforcement that seriously. If we were really serious about protecting the resource, we need to be more serious about the violations⁸ and what happens with the violator.”

He is not suggesting bringing back the death penalty for violators, but says today’s more relaxed attitudes are not enough.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

3 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。

4 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

7 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。