VOA标准英语2010年-Diminishing Gulf Oyster Industry Strug

Commercial fishing ban doesn't stop New Orleans from throwing oyster¹ festival

David Weinberg | New Orleans, Louisiana 15 June 2010
 Oyster fisherman Tracy Collins shucks an oyster on Caminada Bay in Louisiana.

It is a nearly cloudless early June morning on Caminada Bay, Louisiana, aboard a boat surrounded by marshlands and pelicans².

Dolphins appear alongside the boat as 72-year-old Wilbert Collins guides the way through the reefs.

Scanning the horizon, there is no apparent oil sheen. All the eye can see is what appears to be clean water and a string of orange booms surrounding the bay that people here hope will keep the oil out.

Collins is a third generation oyster fisherman from Lafourche parish. When he started his business over 50 years ago, there were 16 other oyster companies working on this bayou. Today, he is the only one left.

Wilbert Collins, 72, is a third generation oyster fisherman.

"Bayou Lafourche was big for oyster boats," he recalls. "When the steam seasons started after Christmas we had four, five, six boats passing this bayou every day loaded down with oysters³ to go to the steam factory. Today not one. Not one of them."

Edged out

There are a number of reasons why the state's oyster industry was declining long before the Deep Horizon well exploded in April.

Supply canals dug by the oil companies carved away land that was home to many oyster beds.

Some areas were over fished and in other places, years of river management diverted large amounts of fresh water into the Gulf⁴, altering the salinity⁵ of the water oysters need to survive.

The boat putters towards a group of empty laundry detergent⁶ containers bobbing in the distance. These homemade buoys⁷ mark the location where Collins and his sons lease their oyster beds. It's one of 70 leases they have throughout this region.

"We travel far and these boats don't go more than seven-eight miles an hour, so it takes us a long time to get where we're going," says Collins.

These oysters can't be sold to restaurants or the public due to oil spill safety concerns.

When the boat reaches the buoys, Collin's son, Nick, lowers a huge metal claw with a net attached into the water and dredges up a load of oysters.

His brother, Tracy shucks one, pointing out the still beating heart. The oyster tastes delicious, plump and salty. No crude has drifted onto this reef yet, so it's safe to eat.

But these oysters can't be sold to restaurants or the public. Louisiana officials have closed this area to commercial fishing until the full extent of the damage is known. More than half of the oyster beds along the Louisiana coast have been closed.

Declining conditions

At the moment, though, Nick Collins is more concerned about the fresh water that's already here than with the threat of oil getting into the oyster beds.

"There's just too much fresh water. You know like that that river water. It's chocolatey like chocolate milk. It just smothers⁸ them."

In order for an oyster to survive, it has to live in just the right mix of fresh and salt water. After the oil started leaking into the Gulf, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal increased the flow of fresh water into the Gulf, despite evidence showing the outflow would not keep the oil from washing ashore⁹. Nick Collins worries this could kill all the oysters in a matter of weeks.

"You know, it's just hard to fathom¹⁰ what's really happening," he says. "All I know for real is that there's a lot of oil leaking in the gulf and today started hurricane season so I don't know. I don't know."

Oyster festival

Despite the uncertainty¹¹ facing Louisiana's oyster fishermen, the New Orleans Oyster Festival kicked off this month in the French Quarter. 

A stage was erected¹² in a parking lot beside the Mississippi River. Dozens of local restaurants set up booths showcasing their signature oyster dishes.

Charlie De Roca of Antoine's restaurant attended for another reason as well.

"Really started just as an oyster festival but, now with the oil spill, it's kind of had a whole new meaning for us. So were all out here to support the oyster fisherman and the industry."

The Oyster fest is a labor¹³ of love for Sal Cinseri, owner of P and J Oyster Company. He originally scheduled the fest for 2005 but had to cancel because of Hurricane Katrina. Even with all the setbacks this year, Cinseri remains¹⁴ upbeat.

"We just want people to realize that we're alive and kicking," says Cinseri. "We're having a great time and we want people to support our city and our state and, most importantly, is to get our coastline replenished¹⁵ so this kind of stuff doesn't even happen."

Caminada Bay, Louisiana

A few days after Oysterfest ends, the first signs of oil start appearing in Caminada Bay.

No one knows for sure how much damage the oil and dispersants will do to the bay, and the Collins family's oyster beds.

It could be years, though, before anyone eats another Caminada Bay oyster.
 

1 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

2 pelicans   

n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Kurt watched the Pelicans fire their jets and scorch the grass. 库尔特看着鹈鹕运兵船点火，它们的喷焰把草烧焦。 来自互联网
• The Pelican Feeding Officers present an educational talk while feeding the pelicans. 那个正在喂鹈鹕的工作人员会边喂鹈鹕边给它上一节教育课。 来自互联网

3 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 salinity   

n.盐分；咸度；盐浓度；咸性

参考例句：

• In the sea water sampled the salinity is two parts per thousand.在取样的海水中，盐度为千分之二。
• In many sedimentary basins the salinity of the formation water increases with depth or compaction.在许多沉积盆地中，地层水的含盐量随深度或压实作用而增高。

6 detergent   

n.洗涤剂；adj.有洗净力的

参考例句：

• He recommended a new detergent to me.他向我推荐一种新的洗涤剂。
• This detergent can remove stubborn stains.这种去污剂能去除难洗的污渍。

7 buoys   

n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• The channel is marked by buoys. 航道有浮标表示。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Often they mark the path with buoys. 他们常常用浮标作为航道的标志。 来自辞典例句

8 smothers   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的第三人称单数 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• Mary smothers her children with too much love. 玛丽溺爱自己的孩子。
• He smothers his hair with grease, eg hair-oil. 他用发腊擦头发。

9 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。

10 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

13 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 replenished   

补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满

参考例句：

• She replenished her wardrobe. 她添置了衣服。
• She has replenished a leather [fur] coat recently. 她最近添置了一件皮袄。