第1段

More than two hundred years ago, Russian explorers and fur hunters landed on the Aleutian Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the North Pacific, and learned of a land mass that lay farther to the north. The islands’ native inhabitants called this land mass Aleyska, the ‘Great Land’; today, we know it as Alaska.

第1段：200多年前，俄罗斯的探险家和毛皮猎人登上了位于北太平洋的阿留申群岛，得知了一片更北方的土地。当地的居民称这片土地为阿来斯卡（Aleyska），意为“大地”；如今我们所知的就是阿拉斯加。

第2段

The forty-ninth state to join the United States of America (in 1959), Alaska is fully one-fifth the size of the mainland 48states combined. It shares, with Canada, the second longest river system in North America and has over half the coastline of the United States. The rivers feed into the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska – cold, nutrient-rich waters which support tens of millions of seabirds, and over 400 species of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and molluscs. Taking advantage of this rich bounty, Alaska’s commercial fisheries have developed into some of the largest in the world.

第2段：阿拉斯加是美国加入的第49个州（1959年），面积是美国本土48个州的五分之一。它与加拿大共享北美第二长的河流系统，并且拥有美国一半以上的海岸线。这些河流注入到白令海和阿拉斯加湾中，这里富含冷、富养分的水域支持着数千万只海鸟和400多种鱼类、贝类、甲壳类和软体动物。借助这样丰富的资源，阿拉斯加的商业渔业已经发展成全球最大规模之一。

第3段

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Alaska’s commercial fisheries landed hundreds of thousands of tonnes of shellfish and herring, and well over a million tonnes of groundfish (cod, sole, perch and pollock) in 2000. The true cultural heart and soul of Alaska’s fisheries, however, is salmon. ‘Salmon,’ notes writer Susan Ewing in The Great Alaska Nature Factbook, ‘pump through Alaska like blood through a heart, bringing rhythmic, circulating nourishment to land, animals and people.’ The ‘predictable abundance of salmon allowed some native cultures to flourish,’ and ‘dying spawners* feed bears, eagles, other animals, and ultimately the soil itself.’ All five species of Pacific salmon – chinook, or king; chum, or dog; coho, or silver; sockeye, or red; and pink, or humpback – spawn** in Alaskan waters, and 90% of all Pacific salmon commercially caught in North America are produced there. Indeed, if Alaska was an independent nation, it would be the largest producer of wild salmon in the world. During 2000, commercial catches of Pacific salmon in Alaska exceeded 320,000 tonnes, with an ex-vessel value of over $US260 million.

第3段：根据阿拉斯加渔业和猎取部门（ADF&G）的数据，2000年阿拉斯加的商业渔业捕捞了成千上万吨的贝类和鱼子酱，以及超过一百万吨的底层鱼类（鳕鱼、比目鱼、鲈鱼和鳕鱼）。然而，阿拉斯加渔业的真正文化核心和灵魂是三文鱼。《阿拉斯加自然百科全书》的作者苏珊·尤因格指出：“三文鱼如同血液一样在阿拉斯加流淌，为土地、动物和人类带来律动的滋养。”“可预测的三文鱼丰盛让一些原住民文化得以繁荣发展”，“垂死的产卵者喂养着熊、老鹰、其他动物，最终喂养了土壤本身。”太平洋的五个物种三文鱼——大马哈鱼、狗鲑鱼、银鲑鱼、红鲑鱼和驼背鲑鱼——都在阿拉斯加水域产卵，北美所捕捞的所有太平洋三文鱼的90%都来自阿拉斯加。事实上，如果阿拉斯加是一个独立国家，它将成为世界上最大的野生三文鱼生产国。在2000年，阿拉斯加的太平洋三文鱼商业捕捞量超过了32万吨，总价值超过2.6亿美元。

第4段

Catches have not always been so healthy. Between 1940 and 1959, overfishing led to crashes in salmon populations so severe that in 1953 Alaska was declared a federal disaster area. With the onset of statehood, however, the State of Alaska took over management of its own fisheries, guided by a state constitution which mandates that Alaska’s natural resources be managed on a sustainable basis. At that time, statewide harvests totalled around 25 million salmon. Over the next few decades average catches steadily increased as a result of this policy of sustainable management, until, during the 1990s, annual harvests were well in excess of 100 million, and on several occasions over 200 million fish.

第4段：捕捞量并非总是如此丰富。在1940年至1959年之间，过度捕捞导致三文鱼种群崩溃，1953年，阿拉斯加被宣布为联邦灾区。然而，随着州的建立，阿拉斯加州接管了自己的渔业管理工作，根据州宪法规定，阿拉斯加的自然资源必须以可持续的方式进行管理。那时，全州的三文鱼捕获量大约为2500万条。随着可持续管理政策的效果，几十年来的平均捕获量稳步增加，到了20世纪90年代，年度捕获量远远超过1亿条，甚至有几次超过2亿条。

第5段

The primary reason for such increases is what is known as ‘In-Season Abundance-Based Management’. There are biologists throughout the state constantly monitoring adult fish as they show up to spawn. The biologists sit in streamside counting towers, study sonar, watch from aeroplanes, and talk to fishermen. The salmon season in Alaska is not pre-set. The fishermen know the approximate time of year when they will be allowed to fish, but on any given day, one or more field biologists in a particular area can put a halt to fishing. Even sport fishing can be brought to a halt. It is this management mechanism that has allowed Alaska salmon stocks – and, accordingly, Alaska salmon fisheries – to prosper, even as salmon populations in the rest of the United States are increasingly considered threatened or even endangered.

第5段：这样增长的主要原因是所谓的“季内基于丰度的管理”。全州范围内的生物学家不断监测成年鱼类的产卵情况。他们在河边的观测塔上坐着，使用声纳进行研究，从飞机上观察，并与渔民交流。阿拉斯加的三文鱼季节不是预先设定的。渔民们大致知道自己何时被允许捕鱼，但在任何一天，该地区的一个或多个生物学家可以停止捕鱼，甚至连娱乐钓鱼也可能被停止。正是这种管理机制使得阿拉斯加的三文鱼资源（以及相应的渔业）得以繁荣，而美国其他地区的三文鱼种群则越来越受到威胁，甚至濒临灭绝。

第6段

In 1999, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)*** commissioned a review of the Alaska salmon fishery. The Council, which was founded in 1996, certifies fisheries that meet high environmental standards, enabling them to use a label that recognises their environmental responsibility. The MSC has established a set of criteria by which commercial fisheries can be judged. Recognising the potential benefits of being identified as environmentally responsible, fisheries approach the Council requesting to undergo the certification process. The MSC then appoints a certification committee, composed of a panel of fisheries experts, which gathers information and opinions from fishermen, biologists, government officials, industry representatives, non-governmental organisations and others.

第6段：1999年，海洋管理委员会（MSC）委托对阿拉斯加的三文鱼渔业进行了审查。这个成立于1996年的委员会认证符合高环境标准的渔业，使其能够使用承认其环境责任的标签。MSC建立了一套评价商业渔业的标准。认识到作为环境负责任的身份被认可所带来的潜在好处，渔业向MSC提出要求进行认证过程。然后，MSC任命一组由渔业专家组成的认证委员会，收集来自渔民、生物学家、政府官员、行业代表、非政府组织等的信息和意见。

第7段

Some observers thought the Alaska salmon fisheries would not have any chance of certification when, in the months leading up to MSC’s final decision, salmon runs throughout western Alaska completely collapsed. In the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, chinook and chum runs were probably the poorest since statehood; subsistence communities throughout the region, who normally have priority over commercial fishing, were devastated.

第7段：有些观察者认为，在MSC做出最终决定前几个月，在整个阿拉斯加西部，三文鱼群完全崩溃。在育空河和库斯科克维姆河中，大马哈鱼和狗鲑鱼的群体可能是自州建立以来最差的；整个地区的居民对此受到了重创。

第8段

The crisis was completely unexpected, but researchers believe it had nothing to do with impacts of fisheries. Rather, they contend, it was almost certainly the result of climatic shifts, prompted in part by cumulative effects of the el niño / la niña phenomenon on Pacific Ocean temperatures culminating in a harsh winter in which huge numbers of salmon eggs were frozen. It could have meant the end as far as the certification process was concerned. However, the state reacted quickly, closing down all fisheries, even those necessary for subsistence purposes.

第8段：这场危机完全出乎意料，但研究人员认为这与渔业的影响无关。他们认为，这几乎可以肯定是气候变化的结果，部分原因是厄尔尼诺/拉尼娜现象对太平洋海水温度的累积影响，导致了一个严冬期间大量的三文鱼卵被冻结。这可能意味着认证过程的终结。然而，州政府迅速采取行动，关闭了所有的渔业，甚至包括为了满足民生需求必需的渔业。

第9段

In September 2000, MSC announced that the Alaska salmon fisheries qualified for certification. Seven companies producing Alaska salmon were immediately granted permission to display the MSC logo on their products. Certification is for an initial period of five years, with an annual review to ensure that the fishery is continuing to meet the required standards.