(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
As the world population grows, there is a need for more food - including seafood.
The World Bank predicts that by 2030,70 percent of the demand for fish will come from Asian countries. The World Resources Institute recently studied world fish production.
The group says fish production needs to more than double by the middle of the century to meet that demand. It says the world's oceans, lakes and rivers are fished to their limit, and it says more fish must be produced in aquaculture projects or fish farms.
One such farm is operating in the California Community of Imperial. Imperial is 26 kilometers north of the border with Mexico. Craig Elliott is part owner of Imperial Catfish.
"We're probably the largest catfish farm this side of the Mississippi...the largest catfish farm in California," said Craig Elliott.
Mr. Elliott says that his business ships thousands of kilograms of fish every week to Asian grocery stores. Many people who go to those stores want to buy live fish.
"In fact, we can't really produce enough fish for the demand," Elliott said.
As the demand for seafood increases, so does the number of fish farms. Mike Velings launched Aqua-Spark, a company that invests money in aquaculture business.
"It's a relatively young industry but it grows at about 9 percent a year and we expect to keep that growth rate going in the next couple of decades," said Mike Velings.
Mr. Velings says China produces more fish on farms than any other country. He says there are very few fish farms in the United States.
"The U.S. relies heavily on wild caught and on imports and only one percent of the world's farming today is done in the U.S," Velings added.
Craig Elliott says it is not easy to operate a profitable aquaculture business.
"You put a fish in at this big and it's going to be 18 months to two years before they are two to three pounds and so you have all that big outlay and you have no return for a long long time. Some people make it, some of them don't," said Elliott.
There are also environmental concerns. Nathan Weaver is an environmental Activist. He says uneaten fish meal and waste products from farmed fish can be harmful to other creatures.
"Many of the species of fish we like to eat are large predatory fish, they are things like tuna or salmon that are already two or three levels up the food chain. So in order to farm these large carnivores you have to actually feed them smaller fish and the concern is that in order to keep a tuna farm or a salmon farm going you'll end up having to catch all the little fish in the ocean," said Weaver.
But the World Resources Institute says government policies, technology and private efforts have led to improvements in fish farms. It says one U.S. food store chain only sells fish from farms that do not use pesticides, antibiotics or added growth hormones.
And that's the Agriculture Report. I'm Caty Weaver.
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词汇解释
1.aquaculture n. [水产] 水产养殖；水产业
Prawn aquaculture is the industry of important economy pillar of Asia area.
对虾养殖业是东南亚地区的重要经济支柱产业。
2.catfish n. 鲶鱼
The catfish deposits its eggs in shallow water, generally dose to roots or close to reeds.
鲇鱼通常在苇根或苇干附近的浅水里产卵。
3.antibiotics n. [药] 抗生素；抗生学
Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics.
你的大夫可能会开抗生素。
内容解析
1.But the World Resources Institute says government policies, technology and private efforts have led to improvements in fish farms.
lead to 导致；通向；
Heart failure led to her father's death.
心力衰竭导致她父亲的死亡。
The street leads to the supermarket.
这条街通向超级市场。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
随着人口的增长，对包括海产品在内的食品需求也在增加。世界银行预测到2030年，70%的鱼类需求来自亚洲国家。世界资源研究所最近调查了世界鱼类产量。
该组织称到本世纪中叶全世界鱼类产量需要至少翻倍才能满足这样的需求，称全世界的海洋、湖泊和河流已经被捕捞到极限，称必须通过水产项目和养鱼场的方式生产更多鱼类。
加州帝国社区就有这样的一个渔场，该社区在墨西哥边界北部26公里处，克雷格·埃利奥特是帝国鲶鱼公司的合伙人。
“我们可能是密西西比这边最大的鲶鱼农场，加州最大的鲶鱼渔场。”
埃利奥特说他的公司每周向亚洲杂货店运送数千公斤的鱼类，去这些商店的很多顾客都希望买到活鱼。
“事实上我们还供不应求。”
随着对海洋食品需求的增加，养鱼场的数量也在增加。迈克·伟林斯成立了Aqua-Spark公司，该公司从事养殖业投资。
“这是个相对年轻的产业，每年增长率大约9%，我们希望未来几十年能继续增长。”
伟林斯说中国农场养殖的鱼类比任何其他国家都要多，他说美国的渔场很少。
“美国主要依靠野外捕捞和进口，美国的养鱼业只占全世界的1%。”
克雷格·埃利奥特说让养鱼场盈利并不容易。
“让这么大的小鱼在18个月到两年时间长成两三磅，这样久的成长期，会在很长时间没有回报，所以有的人赚到钱，有的没有。”
同时也有环境方面的担忧，内森·韦弗是一位环保人士，他说养鱼场没有食用的鱼饲料和废物会对其他物种有害。
“我们喜欢吃的很多鱼类都是大型捕食型鱼类，比如金枪鱼和鲑鱼这样位于食物链第二或第三层的生物。所以要养殖这种大型食肉动物，就必须给它们喂养小鱼，我们担心让金枪鱼和鲑鱼渔场保持运营，结果就必须捕捞海洋中全部的小鱼。”
但世界资源研究所称政府政策、技术和民间力量已使养鱼场有了改善，称美国一家连锁食品店只出售不适用杀虫剂、抗生素或添加生长激素的鱼类。
这就是美国之音农业报道，我是凯蒂·韦弗。
