VOA常速英语:珍珠鲻鱼的朝圣之旅

One of Turkey's rights of spring is the annual journey of the pearl mullet, that leave Lake Van every Maine and swim upstream to their spawning grounds. One of the best places to see this annual pilgrimage is the district of Arces in far eastern Turkey. It's a unique opportunity to see the way nature compels these fish to fight strong currents, and swim upstream to ensure the next generation. They're like beads, you know, like the beads that collect daylight and shine. I photographed right now, the spawn just stands nearby the pearl mullet,and really it looks like a pearl and shines amazingly. The pearl mullets are unique to Turkey and thrive in Lake Vans salty carbonated water. But the saltiness of Lake Van won't allow them to spawn there, so they must swim up one of the many tributaries that feed Lake Van to their spawning grounds. They come to the fresh waters from Lake Van within a month. They lay their spawns, we wish they wouldn't leave,we wish they'd stay here all year round, because they're so beautiful, children are very happy, old people are delighted and overjoyed, everyone is pleased. Usually this park would be full of people participating in an annual festival, to celebrate the migration of the pearl mullet, but this year the parks are quiet,closed due to government restrictions put in place to help fight the coronavirus. As you know there is a coronavirus issue. It's better for the fish, because now there is no one who targets them, hunts or kills them. There is no poaching. As you can see the weather is gorgeous. Photographer Vidal Utley says, people have to stay in their homes due to the coronavirus.

This has reduced the widespread overfishing during the spring, that has threatened the future of these iconic fish. The pandemic has really allowed nature to flourish in the absence of people. It has recovered without so many around. Look, there are lilacs everywhere, there weren't here last year because people took them all away, but this year everywhere has become bed of roses. The green color of the nature is an eye-catching beauty. It is not an easy trip for the pole mullet. They are voraciously hunted by seagulls which can eat as many as 20 every day. There's also the problem of poaching. To stop that, the government won't allow any harvesting of mullet,between the 15th of April and the 15th of July. But some residents say the quality of the water is just as big a threat to the fish as the poachers. Poaching and fisherman and pollution of rivers are very dangerous,but the fish are being made sick by the contaminated rivers, they are not fed. We want the rivers to be kept clean,so that the natural habitat of the fish does not get dirty and change. But the dozens of hydroelectric dams put in place on many of the rivers the fish used to spawn,are also a threat to the mullet. The species is currently listed as near threatened by the International Union of Conservation of Nature. For Arf Aslan in Van Turkey Vasia Handat VOA news