Ruth Teichroeb, the communications officer for Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, sent a note this evening about new steps related to an issue I’ve covered here before – the rare and welcome proactive work by Arctic nations to ban fishing in the central Arctic Ocean ahead of the “big melt” as summer sea ice retreats more in summers in a human-heated climate.

今晚，皮尤慈善信托基金(Pew Charitable Trusts)的倡导项目“最北面的海洋：保护北极生物”(Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic)的通讯联络主管露丝·泰希罗布(Ruth Teichroeb)发出了一条消息，是有关我曾经在这里介绍过的一个议题的最新动向。那是在“大消融”出现之前，北极国家采取的比较少见也很受欢迎的一项积极行动，即在中央北冰洋公海禁渔。“大消融”是指在人类活动引发气温上升的气候条件下，海冰在夏季的消融面积扩大的现象。

Given how little is known about the Arctic Ocean’s ecology and dynamics¹, this is a vital and appropriate step.

考虑到人们对北冰洋的生态和动态变化知之甚少，这称得上是至关重要且恰如其分的一步。

Here’s her note about an important meeting in Washington in early December, which will likely be obscured as the climate treaty negotiations² in Paris enter their final week at the same time:

以下是她发出的有关12月初在华盛顿召开的一个重要会议的消息。这项会议有可能不会被注意到，因为巴黎的气候协议谈判届时将进入最后一周：

The United States is hosting negotiations for an international Arctic fisheries agreement to protect the Central Arctic Ocean in Washington, D.C., on December 1 to 3. The five Arctic countries will meet for the first time with non-Arctic fishing nations to work on a binding⁴ international accord. This follows the declaration of intent signed in July by the Arctic countries.

美国计划在12月1日至3日在华盛顿举行这次会议，就达成一项保护中央北冰洋公海生态的北极渔业国际协议进行磋商。五个北极国家将第一次和多个非北极渔业国家进行会面，共同制定一项具有约束性的国际协议。这些北极国家已在今年7月签署了相关意向书。

The big question for this meeting is whether China, Japan, Korea and the European Union will attend and cooperate on a precautionary agreement to prevent overfishing given the dramatic impact of climate change in the Arctic.Let’s hope they do. The lack of governance in the far north is already being exploited in other ways related to the fate of marine⁵ life.

关于这次会议，有一个比较大的疑问是，考虑到气候变化对北极地区产生的巨大影响，中国、日本、韩国和欧盟国家是否会参会？是否会配合达成这项防止过度捕捞的预防性协议？希望答案都是肯定的。北极地区缺乏管治，已经在与海洋生物命运息息相关的其他一些方面给人以可乘之机。

Just before President Obama visited the Arctic in August, an Icelandic seafood⁶ company quietly sent 1,800 tons of frozen meat hacked⁷ from slaughtered⁹ endangered fin³ whales through the Arctic to Japan.

就在奥巴马总统于今年8月访问北极地区之前，一家冰岛海产品公司悄悄地把1800吨冷冻肉从北极运到了日本。这些肉取自惨遭屠戮的濒危物种长须鲸。

Environmental groups ran ads in Alaskan newspapers during the Obama administration’s Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic in Anchorage to draw attention to the issue.

奥巴马政府在安克雷奇召开全球领导人北极会议(Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic)时，环境保护团体在阿拉斯加的各大报纸上刊登相关广告，希望吸引人们关注这一问题。

Given that the president in 2014 publicly castigated¹⁰ Iceland for its continuing slaughter⁸ of fin whales despite their international status as an endangered species, it’s hard to interpret the shipment as anything other than thumbing the nose at the United States. Here’s what Obama said in a memorandum¹¹ to Congress in 2014:

考虑到奥巴马曾在2014年公开指责冰岛无视长须鲸是国际濒危物种的事实，并不断对它们进行屠戮。除了把冰岛运送鲸肉的行为看作对美国的蔑视，实在不好做别的解读。以下是奥巴马2014年在给国会的一个备忘录中的话：

“Iceland’s actions jeopardize¹² the survival of the fin whale, which is listed in CITES among the species most threatened with extinction¹³, and they undermine multilateral efforts to ensure greater worldwide protection for whales.”

“冰岛的行为危及长须鲸的生存，后者是《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》(CITES)中列出的濒危程度最高的物种之一。这些行为有损为在全球范围内加强对鲸鱼保护而进行的多边努力。”