Each human generation grows up with a new normal, a lower baseline of marine diversity and abundance. Most people don’t know what’s been lost. The loss is a result of disturbed or destroyed habitats, of overfishing, and of climate change that is both warming and acidifying the ocean.
每一代人所看到的海都不一樣,而所謂的海洋新常態(tài),只不過是一個(gè)海洋生物多樣性和資源豐富性不斷減少的過程。鮮少有人意識(shí)到這種變化,但不知不覺中我們已經(jīng)失去了太多,現(xiàn)在我們所看到的海洋滿目瘡痍:生物棲息地遭到破壞,過度捕撈和氣候變化致使海水升溫且酸化。
Fortunately with a network of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs), it’s possible to benefit biodiversity and climate simultaneously. The biodiversity benefit is self-evident—as it is on land, where parks and refuges protect thousands of threatened species. How MPAs benefit fisheries is less obvious. The common perception is that closing areas to fishing hurts fishing interests.
慶幸的是,海洋保護(hù)區(qū)(MPAs)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的規(guī)劃和鋪展有望改善這一現(xiàn)狀,它能在增加生物多樣性的同時(shí)優(yōu)化氣候環(huán)境。正如在陸地上建造公園和保護(hù)區(qū),瀕危物種能得以幸存的道理一樣——海洋生物多樣性能帶來的益處不言而喻。但海洋保護(hù)區(qū)對漁業(yè)的正面影響似乎不那么顯而易見,甚至恰恰相反,人們普遍認(rèn)為關(guān)閉捕撈區(qū)是在損害漁民和漁業(yè)的利益。
The global fish catch has at best plateaued since the mid-1990seven as the fishing industry has increased its efforts to catch fish. The reason is that so many fish stocks are depleted and need a chance to rebuild. “Protected areas are not the enemy of fishing,” Sala says. “Our analysis shows that protection of the ocean can produce a net benefit to fishing.”
自上世紀(jì)90年代中期以來,即便已經(jīng)加大了捕獲力度,全球漁獲總量也漸已停滯不前。究其原因,在于魚類資源已經(jīng)枯竭,海洋生態(tài)亟待休整?!霸O(shè)立禁漁保護(hù)區(qū)并非與捕撈業(yè)為敵,”Sala說,“我們的分析顯示,海洋保護(hù)是能為漁業(yè)帶來利潤的?!?/span>
A case in point is what happened to the Hawaiian tuna long line fishery in the wake of the creation and expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as one of the largest MPAs on Earth, it provides a haven for corals, birds, sharks, and whales. Fishers argued against it. Some researchers have found, however, that there has been no lasting economic harm to the local fishing industry.
夏威夷金槍魚延繩釣捕撈在保護(hù)區(qū)內(nèi)的發(fā)展可謂典型案例。太平洋偏遠(yuǎn)島嶼海洋國家保護(hù)區(qū)作為世界上最大的海洋保護(hù)區(qū)之一,為珊瑚、海鳥和鯨魚等多種生物提供了天然庇所。漁民們反對這一禁漁保護(hù)區(qū)的存在,但事實(shí)證明,它的建成和擴(kuò)大并未對當(dāng)?shù)貪O業(yè)造成持續(xù)性經(jīng)濟(jì)傷害。
It may seem counterintuitive, but the more fully an area is protected, the greater the benefit to fishers operating outside its boundary—an outcome that has been documented in species ranging from tuna to lobsters to clams. Fully protected marine reserves are like an investment account with an untouched principal: They provide yearly returns in the form of adult and larval fish and invertebrates that spill out of the reserves and replenish the stocks that fishers target.
盡管這似乎有悖人們的常識(shí),但事實(shí)上,受到保護(hù)越充分的海域,周邊捕撈區(qū)的漁獲量越大。我們可以把禁漁保護(hù)區(qū)看作是一筆投資,而且這筆投資的本金不受損失,賬戶還能穩(wěn)健增值:禁漁區(qū)的海洋生態(tài)好起來了,區(qū)內(nèi)成魚、魚苗和無脊柱動(dòng)物會(huì)不斷外流,為漁業(yè)回補(bǔ)魚類資源。
There’s more than one benefit to protecting the ocean. “We cannot think of bio-diversity in isolation anymore,” Sala says, “and we cannot think of climate in isolation.”The climate benefit of MPAs arises because carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and marine sediments are one of Earth’s main carbon reservoirs, storing more carbon than soils on land. Undisturbed sediments can lock up carbon for thousands of years. When sediments are disturbed by bottom trawling or seabed mining, the stored carbon is released back into circulation.
海洋保護(hù)的好處還不止這一個(gè)。“我們不能再孤立地看待生物多樣性,”Sala說,“我們同樣也不能孤立地看待氣候問題?!倍趸际谴髿庵兄饕臏厥覛怏w,而海洋作為地球主要的碳匯資源之一,海中沉積物對碳的儲(chǔ)存力要強(qiáng)于土壤,積淀的沉積物能將碳封存上千年之久。但在海底進(jìn)行拖網(wǎng)捕撈或采礦作業(yè)時(shí),沉積物會(huì)遭到破壞,碳重又被釋放回大氣中。因此,建立海洋保護(hù)區(qū)也將有益于改善氣候環(huán)境。
選編自 National Geographic USA, September 2020, P116