遭环保人士围堵
日本暂停南极捕鲸
• Japan has suspended its annual
whale hunt in the Antarctic for now
after a hardline anti-whaling group
gave chase to its mother ship and it
may call the fleet back home, a
government official said.
• 日本某政府官员日前表示，由于捕鲸船队
母舰受到态度强硬的反捕鲸团体的追捕，
将暂停本年度在南极海域的捕鲸活动，并
可能下令捕鲸船队返航。
• Regular attempts by Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society to interrupt
hunts have caused irritation in Japan,
one of only three countries that now
hunt whales and where the
government says it is an important
cultural tradition.
• 海洋守护者协会常规的反捕鲸活动引发了
日本民众的不满。目前全球仅有三个国家
还在捕鲸，日本是其中之一，而且日本政
府表示捕鲸是该国重要的文化传统。
• "Putting safety as a priority, the fleet
has halted scientific whaling for now.
We are currently considering what to
do hereafter," said Tatsuya Nakaoku,
an official at the Fisheries Agency.
• 日本水产厅官员中奥达也说：“为安全起
见，捕鲸船队已暂停了以科研为目的的猎
捕。我们正考虑今后怎么办。”
• When asked if Japan was considering
bringing back the fleet earlier than
planned, he said this remained an
option and added that Japan‘s
whaling plans were not going
smoothly. Representatives for Sea
Shepherd were not immediately
available for comment.
• 在被问及日本是否会考虑提前结束捕鲸时，
他表示有这种可能，还说日本的捕鲸计划
一直不顺。海洋守护者协会的代表还没有
对此发表评论。
• Japan introduced scientific whaling
to skirt the commercial whaling ban
under a 1986 moratorium, arguing it
had a right to watch the whales'
impact on its fishing industry.
• 日本借科研之名捕鲸，绕开了1986年禁止
商业捕鲸的禁令，辩解称有权观察鲸鱼
“对日本渔业的影响。”
• The fleet, consisting of some 180
people on four vessels, is aiming to
cull about 850 minke whales in
Antarctic waters this season, which is
scheduled to end around March.
• 暂停捕鲸的船队由4只捕鲸船组成，约有
180名船员。船队原计划本季在南海海域
捕杀850头小须鲸，一直作业至三月。
• In the same period last year,
Japan killed 506 minke whales,
well below its planned catch of
around 850.
• 日本去年同期共捕杀506头小须鲸，
远低于原计划的850头。
• Last year, Australia filed a complaint
against Japan at the world court in
The Hague to stop Southern
Ocean scientific whaling. The
decision is expected to come in 2013
or later.
• 澳大利亚于去年向海牙国际法庭起诉日本，
要求其停止在南极海域的“科学捕鲸”。
宣判结果预计将在2013年或更晚时间才能
知晓。
• A Sea Shepherd activist was given a
two-year suspended jail term by a
Japanese court in July for boarding a
whaling ship, while one of the
group's ships sank last year after a
collision with a Japanese whaling
ship.
• 去年7月，日本一家法庭判处海洋守护者协
会的一位环保人士两年监禁，缓期执行，
罪名是擅自登上捕鲸船只。去年，因与一
艘日本捕鲸船相撞，该团体的一艘舰船沉
没。
Vocabulary
• mother ship: a vessel or craft that
services others operating far from a home
port or center（母舰，渔业母船）
• skirt: to avoid a difficulty, etc（绕开，回
避）
• moratorium: 暂停，中止，尤指经官方同
意的。这里指1986年通过的《全球禁止捕
鲸公约》。
• Southern Ocean: 南极海域，也称为
Antarctic Ocean