正文
VOA慢速英语:Training Fishermen to Become Fish Farmers
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
There are schools of fish, and there are schools for fishermen. The Cod Academy is a year-long program in Maine, one of the New England states in the American Northeast.
世界上有渔业学校,也有为渔民而建的学校。鳕鱼学院就是缅因州一个长一年期的项目。缅因州是美国东北部新英格兰地区的一个州。
The academy is new. The idea is to train current or former ocean-going fishermen to become fish farmers.
该学院是新建的。旨在培训当前在或以前经常出海捕鱼的渔民成为专业的养殖户。
Sebastian Belle is director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. That group launched the Cod Academy with the University of Maine and other partners. Mr. Belle says the academy teaches all about managing a floating farm.
Sebastian Belle是缅因州水产养殖协会主任。该协会与缅因大学以及其他合作者共共同创办了鳕鱼学院。Belle说,该学院教给学员的一切都与渔场管理有关。
SEBASTIAN BELLE: “One of the things we've been teaching the students is how to feed the fish and not overfeed the fish. So you want to give them enough feed, and not waste any feed and make it as efficient as possible."
Sebastian Belle:“我们一直在教给学生的一件事是如何给鱼类喂饲料,并且不要过量喂养。你要给它们提供足够的饲料,同时不能浪费任何饲料,尽量做到高效。”
The students practice at eight fish pens about a kilometer and a half from shore. These circular pens are fifty meters wide and covered with netting to keep out seabirds. Each one holds as many as fifty thousand cod. A partner in the academy, Great Bay Aquaculture of New Hampshire, operates this fish farm.
学生们在距离海岸1.5千米的八个鱼塘进行练习。这些圆形的渔场宽50米,用网覆盖来防范海鸟。每个鱼塘能够养殖多达5万条鳕鱼。学院的合作伙伴之一,新罕布什尔州大湾水产养殖公司经营着这个渔场。
Most of the cod will become someone's meal somewhere in the world.
大部分鳕鱼都会成为世界上某个地方某人的美食。
Bill Thompson is fifty-nine years old. He served in the Navy and worked as a commercial fisherman. He says the Cod Academy made him a believer in fish farming.
Bill Thompson今年59岁。他曾经在海军服役,是一个商业化的渔民。他说,鳕鱼学院让他成为水产养殖的信徒。
BILL THOMPSON: “Even if the wild stocks came back to their fullest capacity, they still wouldn't be able to feed the world. So I think this is the way of the future. And it's feasible for a family to run a business.”
Bill Thompson:“即使野生的鳕鱼储备恢复到饱和状态,也仍然不能满足全世界的需求。所以,我认为水产养殖就是未来的趋势。而由一个家庭来经营一个企业是可行的。”
He and his son were among the first four students who graduated in August. Bill junior is thirty-nine and has been a working fisherman for most of his life. He dives for urchins and traps lobster. But he has a wife and four children to support.
他和他的儿子是今年8月首批毕业的4个学生之一。小Bill今年39岁,一生的大部分时间都从事捕鱼工作。他潜水来捕捉海胆和龙虾。但是他要供养妻子和四个孩子。
BILL THOMPSON JUNIOR: “Well, I've seen a depletion of the source of everything I've been harvesting over the years. I look into the future, I can't see my kids set up in what I'm doing right now as far as, you know, lobstering, urchining. I don't want to see them, you know, get a source that's depleting every year.”
BILL THOMPSON JUNIOR:“恩,我已经看到多年捕捞的所有资源都开始枯竭。展望未来,我的孩子不可能像我一样捕鱼。我不想看到他们面临逐年枯竭的资源。”
Like any business, fish farming has financial risks. Program director Sebastian Belle says students have to develop a marketing and business plan before they can graduate. Graduates can receive financial assistance from the Maine Aquaculture Association to start their own cod farm. But they will be expected to raise about half the money toward any project.
像任何行业一样,水产养殖也有经济风险。项目主管Sebastian Belle表示,学生们在毕业之前必须制定市场和商业计划。毕业生可以从缅因州水产养殖协会获得资助来开办自己的鳕鱼场。但他们需要自己筹集一半左右的项目资金。
Mr. Belle says the Cod Academy is based on programs to retrain displaced herring and tuna fishermen in Norway and Japan. These government-sponsored programs started more than thirty years ago.
Belle说,鳕鱼学院是基于挪威和日本重新训练流动的鲱鱼和金枪鱼渔民的项目。这些政府赞助的项目创办于30多年前。
SEBASTIAN BELLE: “It's never been done before in America and we're trying to see if it's a model that has some potential. “
Sebastian Belle:“美国以前从来没有这样做过。我们想看一下这种模式是否具有潜力。”
Maine had just one commercial cod farm when the students graduated last month, but Mr. Belle hopes things will change.
上月学生们毕业的时候缅因州只有一个商业化的鳕鱼养殖场。Belle希望这一切将会改变。
SEBASTIAN BELLE: "It's a native fish to Maine. The growing conditions in Maine are very good for cod, and it's kind of a natural choice for us as a state."
Sebastian Belle:“鳕鱼是缅因州本地出产的。缅因州非常适宜鳕鱼生存,而这对我们这个州来说是一个自然选择。”