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VOA标准英语2012--Study: Giving Local Fishermen Control Prevents Overfishing

时间:2012-04-09 08:38:20

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Study: Giving Local Fishermen Control Prevents Overfishing
Exponential decay
Tropical coral reefs are fertile fishing grounds for some 200 million small-scale fishers around the world. 
But many of these reefs are in decline. Tim McClanahan with the Wildlife Conservation Society has followed the catch from one coastal1 fishing community in Kenya for more than a decade. 
“It was going down every year. It was just one of those beautiful exponential decay curves,” he says.
The question was, what could they do to stop that decline before it crashed the whole reef ecosystem2?
Such a crash would not just be bad for the fish. The fishers who make their livelihoods3 from the reef would suffer as well. 
Central control
Since no one owns the oceans, most countries put fisheries management in the hands of the central government. But it’s a complicated business, with a huge number of fishers, catching4 many different species, with a wide range of equipment, brought ashore5 in many different places. 
“Trying to manage that from an under-resourced ministry6 of fisheries in the capital city is basically an impossible task,” says Tim Daw at the University of East Anglia. Faraway authorities setting the rules but lacking the funds to enforce them are a major reason why fisheries around the world are in decline, he says.
But Daw says that is changing. In the last decade or so, civil society groups and researchers have been helping7 fishing communities come together to set their own rules and enforcement mechanisms8.
“Rather than a centralized state actor trying to manage fisheries, it’s a cooperation between the state and the local people, with much more emphasis on the local people,” he says.
Community rules
Communities may decide to close off certain areas to fishing, for example, or restrict what kinds of equipment can be used. The Kenyan community McClanahan worked with decided9 to ban the use of very-fine-mesh nets that catch almost any kind of fish, large or small. 
“And sure enough, within months - six or seven months - the catch started to slowly rise, and it’s actually been rising since that happened,” McClanahan says.
And as the catch rose, so did incomes. 
Getting everyone to follow the rules was not easy. But now the community elders tell him they will never go back. 
However, McClanahan says, there is more to the story.
“Even though the fish catch has come back - the fish are getting bigger - the reef is not in good shape," he says. "Ecologically, it’s not a success story.”
Livelihoods and ecosystems10?
That's the big question for supporters of community fishery management: can it improve both livelihoods and ecosystems?
In a recent study, published in the Proceedings11 of the National Academy of Sciences, McClanahan, Daw and their colleagues studied 42 locations in five countries on two oceans. They interviewed more than 1,000 fishers and local leaders.
They found that people were generally better off with community management than without it. And there were generally more fish in community managed systems than without. 
But not always. 
Fish market
“When we actually got in the water and looked at how much fish was there, the strongest driver there was the distance to market,” Daw says.
Even with community management, when fishers could easily get their catch to a market, they had a strong incentive12 to overfish, according to Daw.
“The value of the fish that you can catch from there is going to be higher, there is going to be more pressure on those resources, they’re going to be attractive to more people," he says. "And we see that as there being actually less fish left on the reefs.”
Also, the more dependent fishers were on their catch for food or income, the less well the systems worked. 
And community management did not work equally for everyone. Wealthier people tended to benefit more, perhaps because they had more influence over how the rules were made or enforced than poorer people did. 
But Tim McClanahan says, “There was evidence the wealthy were doing well, but the poor were either doing a little bit better or not any worse.”
Not a panacea13
The study backs up what Indiana University political science professor Elinor Ostrom has found with groundwater, pastures or other resources that communities share but no one owns.
“Our own research has been showing that small community-controlled resource governance can - CAN - work," she says. "But all of our studies have also shown that it isn’t a panacea. It doesn’t always work.”
Ostrom should know - she won a Nobel Prize for her research. 
She says when people have a stake in making the rules and have effective ways of enforcing them, communities can do a better job than governments at managing a common resource.

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1 coastal WWiyh     
adj.海岸的,沿海的,沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
  • This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
2 ecosystem Wq4xz     
n.生态系统
参考例句:
  • This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
  • We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。
3 livelihoods 53a2f8716b41c07918d6fc5d944b18a5     
生计,谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者,他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小,他们的传统生计受到了威胁。
4 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
5 ashore tNQyT     
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸
参考例句:
  • The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前,孩子们就上岸了。
  • He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
6 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
7 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
8 mechanisms d0db71d70348ef1c49f05f59097917b8     
n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 );机械装置;[生物学] 机制;机械作用
参考例句:
  • The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 decided lvqzZd     
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。
10 ecosystems 94cb0e40a815bea1157ac8aab9a5380d     
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
11 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
12 incentive j4zy9     
n.刺激;动力;鼓励;诱因;动机
参考例句:
  • Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中,钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
  • He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。
13 panacea 64RzA     
n.万灵药;治百病的灵药
参考例句:
  • Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助,但并非灵丹妙药。
  • There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。

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