Delegates from 24 countries and regions and the European Union have agreed that the Ross Sea in Antarctica will become the world's largest marine¹ protected area (MPA).

日前，来自24个国家和地区以及欧盟的代表一致同意在南极罗斯海划设全球最大的海洋保护区。

Some 1.57m sq km of the ocean will gain protection from commercial fishing for 35 years.

这一覆盖面积约157万平方公里的海域将得到保护，在35年内禁止商业捕鱼作业。

The new marine protected area in the Ross Sea was created by a unanimous decision of the international body that oversees² the waters around Antarctica - the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources - and was announced at the commission's annual meeting in Tasmania last Friday.

在罗斯海设立新海洋保护区的决定由监管南极附近海域的国际组织"南极海洋生物资源养护委员会"一致通过，并于上周五在该机构在塔斯马尼亚的年会上宣布。

"I'm absolutely overjoyed," said Lewis Pugh, the UN Patron for the Oceans. "This is the biggest protected area on the land or the sea, this is the first large scale MPA on the high seas."

联合国海洋环保人士刘易斯·皮尤对此表示：“我真的很高兴。这是陆地或海洋上最大的保护区。这也是公海上第一个大规模的海洋保护区 ”

A remote and largely pristine³ stretch of ocean off Antarctica, the Ross Sea is called the "Last Ocean".

罗斯海位于南极洲附近，是一片遥远且基本保持原始状态的海域，有"最后的海洋"之称。

Its nutrient-rich water is the most productive in the Antarctic, leading to huge plankton⁴ and krill blooms that support vast numbers of fish, seals, penguins⁵, and whales.

罗斯海海水营养丰富，是南极海域最多产的部分，大量浮游生物和磷虾在此繁殖，因此也成了许多鱼类、海豹、企鹅和鲸鱼的家园。