英闻天下——63 Environmentalists: HK Shark Fin Shops Try to Hide Their Trade

 　　Photos shot in Hong Kong this week show more than 18-thousand shark fins² drying on the roofs of industrial buildings.

 

　　The fins are spread neatly³ in patterns under a warm sun.

 

　　The images present just a fraction of the shark finning⁴ that takes place every year.

 

　　It's estimated around 75-million sharks are killed every year for their fins, which are considered a delicacy⁵ in certian parts of China.

 

　　Gary Stokes is with the Sea Shepard Society in Hong Kong.

 

　　"They used to dry the fins out in the street, a lot of the public -- there was a big public outcry. Tourism -- it doesn't look good when tourists are coming to town, seeing all these dead sharks on the street. Last year our video we found went viral, it's all around the world. They've obviously decided⁶ to try and hide their ugly game and they went up to the roofs."

 

　　In spite of the negative publicity⁷ surrounding shark fin¹ soup, many shops in Hong Kong still specialize in selling it.

 

　　Leung Wing-chiu owns a dried seafood⁸ shop.

 

　　"These are the views of foreigners. If they have taken the shark meat, why can't the shark fins be used too? You have killed the shark anyway. Some say the sharks are thrown back into the sea after their fins are cut off. I don't think this is necessarily the case. It just so happened that some happened to film the fishermen throwing them back."

 

　　In Leung's shop, one kilogramme of dried shark fin can run from 100 US dollars to several thousand.

 

　　He does conceed his sales of shark fin has dropped off by around 25-per cent over the past few years, given the high-profile campaigns against shark fin soup.

 

　　Former NBA star Yao Ming has been a leading spokesperson against shark fin soup.

 

　　Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has joined the crusade.

 

　　It's been banning shark products from being shipped on its cargo⁹ flights since September.

 

　　Several U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions¹⁰ have also moved to ban the trade and consumption of shark fins.

 

　　The European Union has also banned shark finning.

 

　　Gary Stokes with the Sea Shepard Society is among those pressing the Hong Kong government to end the sale of shark fins in the city.

 

　　"One of the cruelest and most barbaric elements of shark fin is obviously the finning. Not all sharks are finned¹¹. I mean, a lot of regulations are coming in where they have to land the entire shark. But it's more the global impact on the oceans' ecosystems¹². By taking out an apex¹³ predator¹⁴ like the sharks, obviously the snowball effect down the ecosystems will be unprecedented¹⁵."

 

　　The Sea Shepard Society is planning to file a formal complaint to the Hong Kong government in the coming days about the most recent pictures of the shark fins drying on the roofs.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Shen Chencheng.

1 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

2 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

3 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

4 finning   

n.鱼鳍式划水（仰卧水面，两脚并拢，两手放身旁上下拍水使身体向头的方向移动）

参考例句：

• Fish could be sighted finning near the surface. 我们可以看到鱼把鳍露出水面。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A shark was finning around the surface of the ocean. 一条鲨鱼把鳍露出海面游动。 来自互联网

5 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

6 decided   

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。

7 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

8 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

9 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

10 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

11 finned   

adj.有鳍的，有鳍状物的

参考例句：

• The cylinder head is heavily finned for strength. 汽缸头附有许多突片以增加强度。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Auth imagines that not all the lobe-finned fish were pleased. 奥斯想象那时并非所有的总鳍鱼在水里都很快活。 来自互联网

12 ecosystems   

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

13 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

14 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

15 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。