北冰洋公海禁漁計劃能實現嗎

Ruth Teichroeb, the communications officer for Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, sent a note this evening about new steps related to an issue I’ve covered here before – the rare and welcome proactive work by Arctic nations to ban fishing in the central Arctic Ocean ahead of the “big melt” as summer sea ice retreats more in summers in a human-heated climate.

今晚，皮尤慈善信託基金(Pew Charitable Trusts)的倡導項目“最北面的海洋：保護北極生物”(Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic)的通訊聯絡主管露絲·泰希羅布(Ruth Teichroeb)發出了一條消息，是有關我曾經在這裏介紹過的一個議題的最新動向。那是在“大消融”出現之前，北極國家採取的比較少見也很受歡迎的一項積極行動，即在中央北冰洋公海禁漁。“大消融”是指在人類活動引發氣溫上升的氣候條件下，海冰在夏季的消融面積擴大的現象。

Given how little is known about the Arctic Ocean’s ecology and dynamics, this is a vital and appropriate step.

考慮到人們對北冰洋的生態和動態變化知之甚少，這稱得上是至關重要且恰如其分的一步。

Here’s her note about an important meeting in Washington in early December, which will likely be obscured as the climate treaty negotiations in Paris enter their final week at the same time:

以下是她發出的有關12月初在華盛頓召開的一個重要會議的消息。這項會議有可能不會被注意到，因爲巴黎的氣候協議談判屆時將進入最後一週：

The United States is hosting negotiations for an international Arctic fisheries agreement to protect the Central Arctic Ocean in Washington, D.C., on December 1 to 3. The five Arctic countries will meet for the first time with non-Arctic fishing nations to work on a binding international accord. This follows the declaration of intent signed in July by the Arctic countries.

美國計劃在12月1日至3日在華盛頓舉行這次會議，就達成一項保護中央北冰洋公海生態的北極漁業國際協議進行磋商。五個北極國家將第一次和多個非北極漁業國家進行會面，共同制定一項具有約束性的國際協議。這些北極國家已在今年7月簽署了相關意向書。

The big question for this meeting is whether China, Japan, Korea and the European Union will attend and cooperate on a precautionary agreement to prevent overfishing given the dramatic impact of climate change in the ’s hope they do. The lack of governance in the far north is already being exploited in other ways related to the fate of marine life.

關於這次會議，有一個比較大的疑問是，考慮到氣候變化對北極地區產生的巨大影響，中國、日本、韓國和歐盟國家是否會參會？是否會配合達成這項防止過度捕撈的預防性協議？希望答案都是肯定的。北極地區缺乏管治，已經在與海洋生物命運息息相關的其他一些方面給人以可乘之機。

Just before President Obama visited the Arctic in August, an Icelandic seafood company quietly sent 1,800 tons of frozen meat hacked from slaughtered endangered fin whales through the Arctic to Japan.

就在奧巴馬總統於今年8月訪問北極地區之前，一家冰島海產品公司悄悄地把1800噸冷凍肉從北極運到了日本。這些肉取自慘遭屠戮的瀕危物種長鬚鯨。

Environmental groups ran ads in Alaskan newspapers during the Obama administration’s Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic in Anchorage to draw attention to the issue.

奧巴馬政府在安克雷奇召開全球領導人北極會議(Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic)時，環境保護團體在阿拉斯加的各大報紙上刊登相關廣告，希望吸引人們關注這一問題。

Given that the president in 2014 publicly castigated Iceland for its continuing slaughter of fin whales despite their international status as an endangered species, it’s hard to interpret the shipment as anything other than thumbing the nose at the United States. Here’s what Obama said in a memorandum to Congress in 2014:

考慮到奧巴馬曾在2014年公開指責冰島無視長鬚鯨是國際瀕危物種的事實，並不斷對它們進行屠戮。除了把冰島運送鯨肉的行爲看作對美國的蔑視，實在不好做別的解讀。以下是奧巴馬2014年在給國會的一個備忘錄中的話：

“Iceland’s actions jeopardize the survival of the fin whale, which is listed in CITES among the species most threatened with extinction, and they undermine multilateral efforts to ensure greater worldwide protection for whales.”

“冰島的行爲危及長鬚鯨的生存，後者是《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿易公約》(CITES)中列出的瀕危程度最高的物種之一。這些行爲有損爲在全球範圍內加強對鯨魚保護而進行的多邊努力。”