Asia's Oceans Threatened by Over-Fishing
过度捕捞导致亚洲渔业资源萎缩

 
Communities and marine organizations around the world celebrate World Ocean Day on June 8 to raise awareness about the importance of the seas. Most Asian fishermen are not in a celebratory mood, however. Fish stocks are declining, climate change is creating havoc in the seas and the livelihood of poor fishing communities is under threat.

世界各国社区和海洋组织6月8日庆祝世界海洋日，提升人们对海洋重要性的认识。可是大多数的亚洲渔民却没有心情庆祝海洋日，因为渔业资源不断萎缩，气候变化给海洋造成的巨大破坏使得贫困渔业社区的生计受到威胁。

"Too Many Fish in the Sea" was a popular American song in the 1960's.

这是美国1960年代的一首流行歌曲--“大海里有很多鱼”。

If written today, the lyrics might be "Too Few Fish in the Sea". In all of the world's oceans, fish stocks have declined dramatically. In Asia, they have gone down by up to 30 percent in the past 25 years. Fishermen have to go farther out to sea than they used to and they return with fewer, smaller fish in their nets.

假如这首歌是今天谱写的，那么歌曲的名称恐怕就要换成“大海里的鱼太少了”。全球的海洋渔业资源都出现了大幅度减少。在过去25年里，亚洲鱼类资源减少了百分之30。渔民出海比过去离岸越来越远，打回的鱼却越来越少，鱼也越来越小。

Stephen Hall, head of the WorldFish Center, a Malaysian research institute, says the main reason for the decline is over-fishing, which he calls the biggest threat to Asia's oceans.

马来西亚研究机构“世界渔业中心”负责人斯蒂芬.霍尔说，造成海洋水产资源减少的原因是过度捕捞，这是对亚洲海洋的最大威胁。

"The main reason for over-fishing is quite simple, really," he said. "There are simply far too many boats and far too many people trying to make a living from the resource."

霍尔说：“其实造成过度捕捞的主要原因相当简单，那就是有太多的船，太多的人试图以捕捞为生。”

The effects of declining fish stocks on the region are enormous. Asia is not only the world's biggest producer of fish products, Asians also consume more seafood than anyone else in the world. It is an important part of most people's diets and accounts for about half of the protein intake in the region.

不断萎缩的渔业资源对亚洲地区造成的影响很大。亚洲不仅是世界上最大的水产品产地，亚洲人的海产品消费量也超过世界其他地区的人。在大多数亚洲人口中，海产品是他们饮食中的主要组成部分，亚洲人摄入的蛋白质有近一半来自海产品。

As people in Asia have become more affluent, the demand for fish has grown, and prices have gone up. Poor Asians find it harder and harder to afford fish. And individual fishermen find it increasingly difficult to make a living. Stephen Hall says many in the region live on less than a dollar a day.

随着亚洲人民的日益富裕，他们对鱼的需求增大，海产品价格不断上涨。贫穷的亚洲人越来越吃不起鱼，同时渔民发现，以捕鱼为生越来越艰难。霍尔说，亚洲地区很多人的生活费每天不到一美元。

"Even in Malaysia, which is a relatively wealthy country in the region, the average wage is only $34 a month per fisherman," he said. "So there is a real issue of providing alternative opportunity for fishers so that they can exit the fishery and reduce the pressure on fish stocks and ensure that those who do remain in the fishery have healthy fish stocks to harvest and supply to people who need them."

“即便在相对富裕的马来西亚，每个渔民每月的工资平均也只有34美元。因此问题在于为渔民提供其它的机会，只有这样他们才能退出捕捞业，减少对鱼类资源的压力，并确保留下的渔民拥有充足的资源，可以捕捞到足够满足市场需要的海产品。”

Some fishermen think that if fish stocks in their area are depleted, they can just go to the waters of another country. That does not work, however, as stocks are collapsing everywhere. Andy Cornish, director of conservation at the Hong Kong office of the WWF conservation group, predicts that the competition for seafood will lead to increasing conflict in the region.

一些渔民认为，一旦他们耗尽自己海域的渔业资源，他们可以到其他国家的海域去捕捞。但是这行不通，因为全球海洋所有海域的渔业资源都在萎缩。世界野生动物保护组织驻香港办公室主任安迪.康尼施估计，对海产品的竞争将会导致该地区日益增多的冲突。

"This is already happening with Indonesian boats sneaking down into northern Australian waters and even into the Great Barrier Reef to poach sharks," he said. "This has caused real friction between the Indonesian government and the Australian government."

康尼施说：“现在已经发生了印度尼西亚渔船偷偷进入澳大利亚北部海域的事件，他们甚至开到大堡礁一带的海域偷捕鲨鱼。这确实给印尼政府与澳大利亚政府之间造成了摩擦。”

Cornish says poor marine management is one reason for the decline of fish stocks in the region - for example in Hong Kong.

康尼施说，渔业资源萎缩的另外一个原因是对海洋捕捞业的管理不善。他以香港为例说，

"There are no controls on fishing at the moment. You don't need a license to own a boat," added Cornish. "There are no catch limits, you can catch any species - any size. It's just a disaster out there."

“目前对捕鱼没有控制。你不需要执照就能拥有一条渔船，也没有捕捞限量。你可以捕捞任何种类的鱼，不论大小。目前的状况真是灾难性的。”

The waters around Hong Kong are almost empty and 90 percent of the seafood consumed here is imported. People in this affluent city have a taste for rare - and expensive - delicacies. In Hong Kong's restaurants, many fish tanks are filled with live reef fish, which sell for as much as $200 a kilogram. Cornish says many have been caught on reefs in Southeast Asia, in countries that do not have sustainable fisheries management.

香港附近的海域已经没有什么鱼可以打捞了，香港消费的海产品百分之90需要进口。这座富裕城市里的居民对稀有昂贵的海产品有一种特别嗜好。在香港餐馆的鱼箱里游动著珊瑚礁鱼类，这些鱼能卖到每公斤两百美元。康尼施说，很多鱼都是在南海珊瑚礁里捕捞的，那个地区的国家通常缺乏可持续性渔业管理。

"Really this live reef food fish trade, which transports these fish to Hong Kong by sea and air, it really has been like a vacuum cleaner going through the reefs of the Asia Pacific," he said. "They move into a new area, within a few years they have cleaned out all these live, valuable fish, then they move on to another area."

他说：“这种把珊瑚礁活鱼通过海运、空运运送到香港的贸易，真的就像用吸尘器去吸亚太海域的珊瑚礁一样那么绝。几年后，当他们把一片海域的珍贵鱼种全都吸光之后，就会转移到一片新的海域。”

Pollution in waters near the region's urban centers also hurts fish stocks. Another threat is climate change. Ocean waters are becoming warmer and more acidic, and sea levels are rising. All these changes threaten life in the oceans.

亚洲地区靠近城市中心水域的污染同样也在伤害鱼类资源。另一个威胁是气候变化，海洋的水温不断升高，水质日益酸化，海平面日益上升，所有这些变化都在威胁海洋生物。

Over-fishing, pollution, climate change - will people in the region be able to eat fish in the future?

过度捕捞、水质污染，气候变化。那么，亚洲人民将来还有鱼吃吗？

Stephen Hall thinks they probably will, but he says the fish will increasingly come from aquaculture - fish farms in the sea, lakes or ponds.

斯蒂芬.霍尔说，他们也许还能吃得上鱼，不过这些鱼越来越多是来自建在大海、湖泊和池塘里的水产养殖场。

"The powerhouse of aquaculture in the world is Asia - Southeast Asia and China in particular. And over the coming years we will see that development grow further - there is no doubt about that in my mind," said Hall. "But the challenge is of course to do it in a way that is environmentally sustainable."

“世界上水产养殖最发达的地区就是亚洲，特别是南亚和中国。在未来几年里我们将看到进一步的发展，对此我毫无疑问。不过，如何以一种能够环保的可持续方式来发展水产养殖业，这是一个挑战。”

One bit of good news is that governments in the region are trying to address over-fishing. Hall says all over Asia, there are efforts to reduce the number of fishing boats. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, for example, mechanized boats and trawlers are banned from fishing for 45 days in coastal waters every year. Hall says the challenge is to help people who stop fishing find new livelihoods.

唯一的一点好消息是，亚洲地区政府正在着手解决过度捕捞问题。霍尔说，整个亚洲地区都在努力削减渔船数量。以印度泰米尔纳德邦为例，机动渔船和拖网鱼船每年禁止在近海捕鱼45天。霍尔说，那里的挑战是如何帮助不再捕鱼的渔民寻找新的生计。