VOA常速英语2014--Summit to Protect Oceans Opens 全球海洋保护峰会开幕

Summit to Protect Oceans Opens 全球海洋保护峰会开幕

Officials from around the world are meeting this week to discuss protecting the world’s oceans amid climate change and overfishing. The Global Oceans Action Summit for Food Security and Blue Growth is being held in The Hague. The summit runs through April 25th.

来自世界各国官员于本周举行会议，讨论海洋的气候变化和过度捕捞问题，倡导保护海洋。全球粮食安全峰会——海洋行动和蓝色增长正在海牙举行。峰会将于4月25号结束。

Summit organizers estimate 40 percent of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of a coastline. Nearly 700-million people live in low-lying coastal 1 areas just 10 meters above sea level. And 13 of the world’s 20 biggest cities are on the coast. What’s more, up to 12 percent of the population relies on oceans for their livelihood 2.

峰会组织估计世界上有40%的人口居住在不到100平方公里的海岸线上。大约有7千万的人口生活在低于海平面10米的海岸区域。全世界最大的20个城市有13个是在沿海。另外，世界超过12%的人口依海而生。

Netherlands Agriculture Minister Sharon Dijksma is chair of the oceans summit. She said, “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive. In this century, he is beginning to realize that in order to survive he must protect it.”

荷兰农业部长Sharon Dijksma 是这次峰会的主席。她说“在历史的大部分时间里，人类不得不对抗自然才能生存。在本世纪里，我们意识到为了生存，我们应该保护海洋。”

She said protecting the oceans is necessary with global population expected to grow to 9-billion by 2050.

她认为保护海洋需要全世界的人们共同努力，到了2050年，人口预计将达到到90亿。

“Are we really willing to stop the moral outcry that still almost one-billion people go hungry to bed every day? Are we willing to stop the overexploitation of our natural resources, especially fish stocks? You, we, as global leaders, ocean practitioners 3, businesses, scientists, NGOs, civil society and international organizations, have to find answers to these questions [in] the coming days.”

“我们真的愿意停止道德的抗议，停止每天近十亿人挨饿上床吗？”我们愿意停止过度开采我们的自然资源尤其是渔业资源吗？你，我，还有全球的领袖，海洋从业人员、企业、科学家、非政府组织、公民社会和国际组织，在未来的日子里应该找到答案。”

Dijksma said that “combined action and partnerships 4 for healthier and productive oceans can drive sustainable growth and shared prosperity.”

Dijksma 说“全球联合行动和各国伙伴合作关系可以推动海洋生产力的健康可持续发展和共同繁荣。”

“Let’s face the facts,” she said, “Eighty percent of all life on the planet is found in the oceans. The ocean provides a global life support system that helps regulate climate and supplies half of the planet’s oxygen needed for one in every two breaths that we take.”

“让我们一起面对现实，”她说“地球上80%的生命被发现在海洋里。海洋为地球提供了生命支持系统，帮助调节气候，并且供应着地球上一半生命呼吸所需要的氧气。”

She added that food security cannot be maintained without sustainable fisheries.

她补充说，如果没有渔业的可持续发展，食品完全无法维持。

“Fish contributes 17 percent of the animal protein consumed by the world population and thus is a critical source of food – with demand expected to double in the next 20 years.”

“鱼肉含17%的动物蛋白质，对于人类来说这是非常好的食物来源。这个需求预计在未来的20年会是现在的两倍。”

The three major threats to ocean health are overfishing, habitat change and pollution. However, Dijksma says efforts to eliminate these threats often have been unsuccessful. That failure, she says, contributes to tensions between growth and conservation.

现在对海洋健康的三大威胁分别是过渡捕捞，动物栖息地的变迁和污染。不管怎样，消除这些威胁的努力均告失败。这些失败，导致了保护和发展的关系紧张。

World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim addressed the summit with a video message, saying oceans are fundamental to life. Kim says over the past decade, the bank has increased its support for fisheries, pollution reduction and habitat conservation. In other words, support for what’s called Blue Growth.

世界银行主席Jim Yong Kim博士用录像的方式在峰会上发言，说海洋是生命的基础。在过去的几十年里，银行已经加大了对渔业的支持，栖息地的保护，减少了对海洋的污染。换句话说，支持所谓的蓝色增长。

“For example, we’re working with Sierra Leone and Liberia to reduce illegal fishing and make catches sustainable. As a result, local communities have increased their catches by as much as 40-percent. In the Pacific, we’re partnering with several countries and regional agencies to support smart limits on tuna fishing, which could increase local revenues by $250 million each year,” he said.

“例如，我们正在与塞拉利昂和利比里亚合作减少非法捕捞,使捕渔业可持续发展。结果当地社区增加了40%的海洋捕获量。在太平洋,我们与一些国家和地区合作机构来支持金枪鱼捕捞的限制,这可能会使当地收入每年增加2.5亿美元。”

Also addressing the conference was Arni Mathiesen, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

粮农组织助理总干事 Arni Mathiesen也对渔业和水产业做出了致辞。

He said, “There are many good reasons why we need to push the blue agenda forward. The health of our planet itself, our health and food security depend on how we treat the blue world. We cannot keep using marine 5 and aquatic 6 resources as if they were endless. And we cannot keep using our oceans as a waste pool.”

他说，我们有很多很好的理由为什么要推动蓝色议程。地球本身的健康,我们的健康和粮食安全取决于我们如何对待蓝色世界。我们不能继续无限制的使用海洋和水产资源,好像他们是无穷无尽的。我们不能继续把我们的海洋像废水池那样使用。“

He warns oceans are rapidly losing biodiversity. Many regions report a sharp rise in invasive species, threatening local marine life. He said FAO programs aim to strengthen local fisheries to better manage and maintain fish stocks. Mathiesen said countries, agencies and organizations at the summit need first to commit and then to act.

他警告说，海洋正在迅速的失去它的多样性。许多地区的物种入侵报告数量急剧上升。他说,粮农组织项目旨在加强当地渔业，更好的管理和维护鱼类资源。Mathiesen说，国家,机构和组织需要先在峰会上提交议案,然后采取行动。