誰該爲受神經毒素污染的太平洋負責?大綱

There's a fight brewing in the Pacific about toxic algae, climate change, and crabs. It has the commercial crab industry squaring off against Big Oil. So for our latest Verge Science video, I took some motion-sickness meds and hopped on a boat to find out what's really threatening commercial crabbing and what can be done about it.
就太平洋地區的毒藻類、氣候變化和螃蟹問題，爭論一觸即發。商品蟹行業與石油巨頭（Big Oil）正相持不下。所以，爲拍攝Verge雜誌的最新一期科學視頻，我吃了點暈船藥，登上一艘輪船去探索威脅商品蟹的真正原因，以及我們可以做些什麼。

At the heart of this fight is a neurotoxin called domoic acid, which causes something called amnesic shellfish poisoning. The symptoms can range from stomach problems, confusion, short-term memory loss, seizures, and even death. For the past four years, elevated levels of the toxin have forced California's commercial crab fishery to stay closed for weeks to months past the usual opening day until the levels drop.
這場爭論主要圍繞一種叫做軟骨藻酸的神經毒素展開，這種毒素會引起記憶喪失性貝毒。主要症狀包括：胃痛、精神錯亂、短期記憶喪失、癲癇，甚至死亡。過去四年中，該毒素水平升高，迫使加利福尼亞州的商品蟹漁業延遲開業期（短則數週，長則數月），直至毒素水平下降。

Domoic acid is produced by algae that bloom regularly along the Pacific coast. These blooms aren't always dangerous. There's some combination of nutrients, light, and, perhaps most importantly, warm water that can create a toxic soup. The toxin travels up the food chain from filter-feeding shellfish to creatures like crabs, marine mammals, and, rarely, to humans. To keep the food supply safe, state officials close fisheries when levels get too high.
通常情況下，軟骨藻酸是太平洋沿海的硅藻繁殖時產生的。此類繁殖並不總是危險的。需要營養素、光照，更爲重要的是，溫水組合在一起才能產生毒素。該毒素會沿着食物鏈從濾食性貝類傳播到螃蟹、海洋哺乳動物，極少情況下，會傳播給人類。爲保證食品供應安全，當毒素水平過高時，加州官員會關閉漁業。

These closures have been devastating to the Dungeness crab industry, as many publications, including San Francisco Magazine and National Geographic, have reported. The worst closure started in 2015 and lasted for months, costing the industry more than $48.3 million by one estimate and upwards of $117 million by another. The 2016 and 2018 seasons also saw domoic acid delays.
漁業關停對珍寶蟹行業的打擊是毀滅性的，正如《舊金山雜誌》《國家地理》等刊物所報道的那樣。最糟糕的一次關停發生在2015年，關停持續了4個月，使該行業損失超過4830萬美元，還有人估計稱，此次損失超過1.17億美元。2016年和2018年也見證了軟骨藻酸引起的漁業推遲開業的現象。

An organization called the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations is bracing for a future where climate change ensures that there's plenty of that key ingredient for toxic blooms: warm water. These fishers have connected some worrying dots, from the toxic blooms and warming oceans to climate change and fossil fuels. So the group has taken the extraordinary step of suing 30 major fossil fuel companies: it wants Big Oil to pay for the harm to members' livelihoods, and they want their industry to survive even in a changing climate.
一家名爲太平洋海岸漁民聯合協會（Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations）的組織正做好準備迎接氣候變化，因爲氣候變化勢必爲毒素產生提供關鍵因素：溫水。這些漁民將一些令人擔憂的現狀串聯起來（從毒素繁殖和海洋變暖到氣候變化和化石燃料），所以該機構採取了重大舉措--起訴30家領頭化石燃料公司：該機構希望石油巨頭們爲漁民生計受損負責，同時希望漁業能夠在氣候變化的情況下存活。