2006年VOA标准英语-Senegalese Fishing Communities Still Suffering

By Jordan Davis
Dakar
26 December 2006

 
Senegalese fishermen say their catches are smaller because
of fishing by foreign commercial vessels¹, 26 Dec. 2006
This year as many as 30,000 illegal migrants left West African shores for Spain's Canary Islands - a record number. In Senegal, fishing villages have been particularly hard hit by the migration². The local industry has suffered a downturn because of a drop in catches. For fishermen up and down the coast, the situation has not improved. For VOA, Jordan Davis reports from Dakar with help from Julie Vandal in Saint Louis.

Most days, Ousmane Fall heads out to sea in a brightly colored small, flat-hulled wooden boat known as a pirogue. The fisherman from the northern city of Saint-Louis says the catches he fills his boat with get smaller and smaller

There are fewer fish in the sea, Fall explains. He says these days to get a good catch you have to go north to Mauritania or south to Guinea. Most of the fish, he says are caught by big foreign boats who buy up fishing rights from the government.

Fall says it is hard to make a living off the sea these days. And many young people who might normally find a livelihood³ in fishing try to find work elsewhere. That is not an easy task in a country with rampant⁴ unemployment. So fishing villages have been one of the primary sources of young men who embark⁵ on a one-way pirogue trip to Spain's Canary Islands.

The nearly 2000 kilometer voyage can be deadly. Last week a pirogue capsized not far from Saint-Louis. Two dozen survived but aid workers say several times that number likely died.

 
Traditional fishing boats known as 'pirogues' in Saint-Louis, Senegal, 26 Dec. 2006
Abdoulaye Diagne is the captain of the port at Saint Louis. Survivors⁶ of that wreck⁷, he says, reported running out of food and water during the journey and being forced to drink from the ocean.

Senegalese authorities say joint⁸ sea patrols with European countries have reduced the number of boats setting sail for the Canaries in recent months. Despite the risk of dying at sea, or the likelihood of being deported⁹, the promise of riches is as tempting¹⁰ as ever.

Down the coast near the capital Dakar, young men and boys in the fishing village of Hann wade¹¹ ashore¹² balancing crates¹³ of fish on their heads.

Eighteen-year-old Mamadou Diop says his two older brothers left for Spain. And he hopes to join them.

Diop says with fishing he might make a few dollars a day. But he says he wants a nice house and a nice car. The real money, he says, is in Europe.

1 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

4 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

5 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 ashore   

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。

13 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。