好英语网日本渔业仍在核阴影下
SOMA, Japan — The catch from six small fishing boats, the first to resume commercial fishing in the waters off Fukushima since last year’s nuclear catastrophe, went on sale at local supermarkets on Monday, raising hopes and concerns in a region struggling to return to something like normal.
日本相马——自去年核事故以来，福岛附近水域第一批恢复商业性捕捞的六艘渔船，在周一把它们捕获的鱼送到了当地超市出售。在这片灾后重建的地区，人们看到了希望，但同时，人们的担忧也加深了。
For now, the catch is limited to octopus and whelk, a type of sea snail, because those species are thought to trap fewer radioactive particles in their bodies. Still, local residents said it was a milestone for a vital source of food and employment in the region.
眼下，渔民们只能捕捞章鱼和一种叫蛾螺的海蜗牛，因为人们认为这两种水产体内聚积的放射性粒子较少。尽管如此，当地居民还是认为，不管是从重要的食物来源还是从当地就业的角度来看，这都是一个里程碑。
But the fishermen’s hope to resume working the waters they fished for decades is causing unease all around. Experts say the effects of the disaster on the ocean are still not fully understood.
渔民们希望在他们捕了几十年鱼的水域恢复工作，但这导致了周围人的不安。专家们表示，目前尚未完全了解灾难对海洋的影响。
周一，被捕捞到的章鱼在日本相马的港口卸船。该地区的渔民仍然只能捕捞章鱼和蛾螺。
Hours before the boats set out, the central government hastily banned Fukushima’s fishermen from selling 36 types of fish other than octopus and whelk. Until then, there had been no explicit ban on fishing near Fukushima, because the region’s fishermen had voluntarily suspended work after the disaster. In return, they have received about $125 million from the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power.
就在渔船出海前几个小时，中央政府匆忙下令，禁止福岛渔民售卖除章鱼和蛾螺以外的36种鱼类。在那之前，并没有明确的禁令禁止在福岛附近捕鱼，因为事故发生后，当地渔民自发停止了捕捞作业。作为回报，渔民们从经营福岛核电站的东京电力公司 (Tokyo Electric Power) 获得了约1.25亿美元的补偿。
“We are not opposed to fishermen in Fukushima starting to fish again, if they can show that what they are catching does not contain high levels of radiation,” said Yasunobu Matsui, a government food safety official. “We just don’t want them to make a mistake and catch the wrong kind.”
“我们不反对福岛的渔民重新开始捕鱼，只要他们能证明，他们捕的鱼不含高剂量辐射，”政府食品安全官员安信松井 (Yasunobu Matsui) 表示。“我们只是不希望他们误捞到不安全的鱼类。”
Japan is still grappling with the effects of the meltdowns and other problems at the plant, which led to the largest accidental release of radioactive material into the sea on record. Levels of radioactive cesium off the coast peaked at more than 100,000 becquerels per cubic meter in early April — about 100 times higher than the peak levels detected in the Black Sea after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, according to a study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
福岛核泄漏及其他事故造成大剂量的放射性物质流入大海，污染程度达到有记录以来的最高水平。日本至今仍然处在艰难的灾后重建中。根据马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所 (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) 的一项研究，当地近海放射性铯的浓度在四月初曾高达10万贝克勒尔每立方米，比1986年切尔诺贝利核泄漏后在黑海检测到的最高浓度还高约100倍。
What that means for sea life is far from clear, Mr. Matsui said. Away from the immediate area of the plant, the radiation is too diffuse to pose an immediate risk to human health, but experts worry that radioactive material will accumulate in the marine food chain.
松井表示，现在还完全不清楚，这样高的辐射对海洋生物意味着什么。在稍微远离核电站的水域，辐射非常分散，不至于直接危及人类健康，但专家们担心，放射性物质会在海洋食物链中累积。
Radiation levels in some fish exceed the government’s safety limits of 100 becquerels a kilogram. But other sea produce show negligible radiation readings, including octopus and sea snails caught by fishermen from Soma.
部分鱼类体内的辐射水平超过了政府规定的100贝克勒尔每千克的安全上限。但有的海产品显示出的辐射剂量则可以忽略不计。这些海产品包括相马渔民捕捞到的章鱼和各类海蜗牛。
“Given that Japan has the highest seafood consumption rate in the world, understanding concentrations and assimilation in marine biota is an important task,” Ken Buesseler, a marine chemist who led the Woods Hole study, wrote in the journal Environmental Science and Technology last fall.
“考虑到日本是全世界海产品消费水平最高的国家，了解核污染在海洋生物体内的积累和同化量是一项非常重要的任务，”主持伍兹霍尔研究的海洋化学家肯·比塞勒 (Ken Buesseler) 去年秋天在《环境科学与技术》 (Environmental Science and Technology) 杂志上写道。
Fishermen in Fukushima are desperate to get back to work. Mr. Takahashi, the fisherman, who lost his old trawler to the tsunami, said he worked all year to obtain another, the Myojinmaru.
福岛的渔民非常急于恢复捕捞 。高桥 (Takahashi) 的拖网渔船被海啸吞没了。他说，为了再买一艘船，他辛辛苦苦工作了一年。他把新船命名为明神丸号 (Myojinmaru)。
On Saturday, those sailing the Myojinmaru and five other boats chose a spot about 30 miles offshore where radioactivity was thought to be adequately diluted. They returned 15 hours later to deliver buckets of octopus and sea snails to a Soma fish market still largely in ruins, with much of its roof gone, carried away by the tsunami. Tests found no radioactivity in their catch.
周六，驾驶明神丸号 和另外五艘渔船的渔民们选择了一个距离海岸30英里的捕捞地点。人们认为，那儿的放射性已经冲淡了。15个小时之后，他们才返航，把一桶桶章鱼和海蜗牛送到了相马的一个水产市场。这个市场基本上还是一片废墟，大部分房屋的屋顶都被海啸冲走了。经过检测，没有在他们捕捞到的章鱼和海蜗牛体内发现放射性物质。
“We’re still fearful, because we do not have any guarantee that anyone will ever buy fish from Fukushima again,”said Fusayuki Nambu, who heads the local Soma-Futaba fishing cooperative. “But we can’t stay idle forever.”
“我们还是担心，因为我们不能保证有人会再买福岛的鱼，”当地的相马-双叶渔业联合公司负责人房幸南部 (Fusayuki Nambu) 说道。“但我们不能永远都无所事事。”
It is unclear whether a public that is jittery about radiation generally will trust fish caught off Fukushima. Many Japanese are wary of the government’s assurances about test results, and Tokyo Electric has made people more suspicious by refusing to let independent experts survey waters inside the roughly 12-mile exclusion zone around the plant.
仍对辐射感到惴惴不安的公众是否会信任在福岛海域捕获的鱼？目前还是个未知数。政府对放射性检测打保票，可是许多日本人仍持谨慎态度。而东京电力公司拒绝独立专家进入核电站周围约12英里宽的禁入区检测水质，这更增添了人们的疑虑。
“I don’t think anyone now would lie about radiation levels, but in the end, it’s the consumer who will decide,” said Yoshiaki Saito, a wholesaler who handles tuna, crab and other seafood at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.
“我想任何人都不会在辐射水平这件事上撒谎，但最后的决定权还是在消费者手上，”在东京筑地渔市场 (Tsukiji Fish Market) 经营金枪鱼、螃蟹以及其他海鲜的批发商义昭斋藤 (Yoshiaki Saito) 说道。
Even in Soma, where shoppers are sympathetic to the plight of the city’s fishermen, many will not allow their children or grandchildren to eat local seafood.
在相马，消费者非常同情当地渔民的困境，但即便如此，很多人还是不让自己的子女或孙子女吃当地的海鲜。
“I’d eat anything they catch, but for Minami, it’s a different story,” said Yasuo Yoshizawa, 63, referring to his 8-year-old granddaughter. “I do want to see the fishing industry revive, but our children’s health is the most important.”
“他们捞的任何东西，我都会吃。但如果是南 (Minami) 的话，就不一样了，”63岁的保尾义泽 (Yasuo Yoshizawa) 说道。南是他的孙女，今年8岁。“我的确希望看到渔业复苏，但我们的孩子们的健康更重要。”
Contaminated water still escapes from the nuclear plant — about 12 tons of water containing radioactive strontium leaked in April, Tokyo Electric said — and rain that falls on the area washes radioactive cesium into local rivers that empty into the sea. Traces of the cesium have been found in at least one wide-ranging ocean species, Pacific bluefin tuna, the study said.
被污染的水依然从核电站往外排——东京电力公司称，四月份有12吨携带放射性锶的水泄露——降落在该地区的雨水也将放射性铯冲进河流，这些河流最终注入大海。伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的研究称，已经在至少一种分布广泛的海洋物种——太平洋蓝鳍金枪鱼——体内发现了微量的铯。
“The bottom line is that it’s too early to tell how much the sea, or sea life, has been contaminated,” said Yosuke Yamashiki, associate professor of environmental engineering at Kyoto University. “And the event is not over. Radioactive substances could enter the ocean for some time, perhaps even years.”
“说到底，现在判断海洋和海洋生物究竟受到了多大的污染还为时太早，”京都大学环境工程副教授与助山崎 (Yosuke Yamashiki) 说道。“这件事还没结束。放射性物质进入海洋，可能在今后在一段时间甚至几年内都不能消除。”