2. 职称英语
  3. In an effort to sustain commercial and recreational fishing for the next sev

In an effort to sustain commercial and recreational fishing for the next sev

游客2023-11-03  61
问题     In an effort to sustain commercial and recreational fishing for the next several decades, the United States this year will become the first country to impose catch limits for every species it manages, from Alaskan pollock(鳕鱼)to Caribbean queen conch(海螺). Although the policy has attracted scant attention outside the community of those who fish in America and the officials who regulate them, it marks an important shift in a pursuit that has helped define the country since its founding.
    Catch limits are intended to protect the 528 species in federally managed fisheries. Unlike most recent environmental policy debates, which have divided neatly along party lines, this one is about a policy that was forged under President George W. Bush and finalized with President Obama’s backing. "It’s something that’s arguably first in the world," said Eric Schwaab, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s assistant administrator for fisheries. " It’s a huge accomplishment for the country. "     Five years ago, Bush signed a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which dates to the mid-1970s and governs all fishing in U. S. waters. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers joined environmental groups, some fishing interests and scientists to insert language in the law requiring each fishery to have annual catch limits in place by the end of 2011 to end overfishing.
    Although NOAA didn’t meet the law’s Dec. 31 deadline—it has finalized 40 of the 46 fishery management plans that cover all federally managed stocks—officials said they are confident that they will have annual catch limits in place by the time the 2012 fishing year begins for all species.(The timing varies depending on the fish, with some seasons starting May 1 or later.)Some fish, such as mahi-mahi(海豚鱼)and the prize game fish wahoo(刺鲅)in the southeast Atlantic, will have catch limits for the first time.
    Until recently the nation’s regional management councils, which write the rules for the 528 fish stocks under the federal government’s jurisdiction, regularly flouted scientific advice and authorized more fishing than could be sustained, according to scientists. Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, said the law’s ban on overfishing forced fishery managers to impose limits that some commercial and recreational fishers had resisted for years. " This simple but enormously powerful provision had eluded lawmakers for years and is probably the most important conservation statute ever enacted into America’s fisheries law," Reichert said.
And unlike many environmental regulations, which are written and enforced by Washington officials, the fishing limits were established by regional councils representing a mix of local interests.
    "Because the final decisions were left on the local level, you have a higher assurance of success," said James L. Connaughton, who helped prepare the reauthorization bill while chairing the White House Council on Environmental Quality. "If it had been imposed in Washington, we’d still be stuck in 10 years of litigation. "
    But the changes have not come without a fight, and an array of critics are seeking to undo them. Some commercial and recreational operators, along with their congressional allies, argue that regulators lack the scientific data to justify the restrictions. And they suggest that the ambitious goals the law prescribes, including a mandate to rebuild any depleted fish stock within a decade, are arbitrary and rigid. [br] What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
选项 A、To show concerns for the feasibility of the fishing limits.
B、To worry about the future of commercial and recreational fishers.
C、To show the difficulties of the formulation of fishing limits.
D、To make criticisms for the fishing limit policy.
答案 C
解析 推理题。根据题干提示定位至最后一段，该段的主要目的是说明鱼类捕捞限制虽然在2012年即将实施，但它的出台并不是一帆风顺的，有很多反对的声音，故[C]为正确答案。由本段第二句可知，有反对者认为，规则的制定者缺乏证明限捕数量合理性的科学数据，但[A]“对捕捞限制可行性的关注”并不是本段作者的写作意图，而是作者举例说明反对者如何企图通过这种主张否定限捕规定，故排除；而捕捞限制就是为了渔业的可持续发展，禁止过度捕捞，因此作者并未表达对捕鱼者因限捕令前途尽失的担忧，相反限捕令恰是为了他们避免未来无鱼可捕的命运，故排除[B]；本段引用了反对捕捞限制规定的利益集团的“批评”，但从全文可知，这项规定得到了大多数立法者的支持，即将生效，故本段的目的并不是“对捕捞限捕政策进行批评”，故排除[D]。
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