關于露脊鯨的保護訴訟可能會持續(xù)數月

關于露脊鯨的保護訴訟可能會持續(xù)數月

PORTLAND, Maine -- A judge's ruling that the federal government didn't take adequate steps to protect endangered whales will probably result in another monthslong court battle, parties to the lawsuit said.

緬因州波特蘭——一名法官裁定，聯(lián)邦政府沒有采取足夠的措施來保護瀕臨滅絕的鯨魚。訴訟各方表示，這一裁決可能會導致又一場持續(xù)數月的法庭大戰(zhàn)。

Environmental groups claimed that regulators’ failure to protect the North Atlantic right whale from harm was a violation of the Endangered Species Act, and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled April 9 that they were right. The right whales number only about 400 and are in the midst of a worrisome decline in population.

環(huán)保組織稱監(jiān)管機構未能保護北大西洋露脊鯨不受傷害，違反了《瀕危物種法》，美國地方法官詹姆斯·博斯伯格于4月9日裁定他們是對的。露脊鯨的數量只有大約400頭，而且正處于令人擔憂的數量下降之中。

The government, environmentalists and industry members who are involved in the lawsuit must still return to court to determine a remedy. Boasberg ruled that the risk posed to the whales by the lobster fishery was too great, and that a remedy could ultimately result in new restrictions on lobster fishing.

參與訴訟的政府，環(huán)境保護主義者和行業(yè)成員仍然必須回到法庭來決定補救措施。博斯伯格裁定，捕蝦業(yè)給鯨魚帶來的風險太大，補救措施可能最終導致對捕蝦業(yè)的新限制。

The whales are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in lobster fishing gear.

鯨魚很容易被龍蝦漁具纏繞致死。

Members of the industry, including the Maine Lobstermen's Association, have vowed to fight to protect the fishery. The two sides will have to exchange court filings about what the remedy could look like, and the process is likely to take months, said Jake O'Neill, a spokesman for Conservation Law Foundation, one of the environmental groups involved in the lawsuit.

包括緬因州捕蝦者協(xié)會在內的捕蝦業(yè)成員誓言要為保護漁業(yè)而斗爭。參與這起訴訟的環(huán)保組織之一、環(huán)保法律基金會的發(fā)言人杰克·奧尼爾表示，雙方將必須交換法庭文件，以確定補救措施可能是什么樣子，這個過程可能需要數月時間。

That the way the process will play out is uncertain but is one of few things the environmentalists and fishermen agree on, though both have vowed to save the whales.

這一過程的最終結果是不確定的，但這是環(huán)保主義者和漁民達成一致的少數事情之一，盡管他們都發(fā)誓要拯救鯨魚。

“Too soon to know,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

“現在下結論還為時過早，”緬因州捕蝦者協(xié)會的執(zhí)行理事帕特里斯·麥卡倫說。

A spokeswoman for the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that handles ocean issues, declined to comment because the lawsuit is still in court.

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局(簡稱NOAA)負責處理海洋事務的聯(lián)邦機構——國家海洋漁業(yè)服務部門的一位女發(fā)言人拒絕置評，因為該案仍在審理中。

The environmental groups behind the lawsuit have characterized Boasberg's ruling as a victory for the whales, which were hunted to near extinction during the commercial whaling era.

這起訴訟背后的環(huán)保組織稱，博斯伯格的裁決是鯨魚的勝利，在商業(yè)捕鯨時代，鯨魚被捕殺到幾近滅絕。

Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the decision "should send a clear signal that federal officials must take immediate action to protect these amazing animals from suffering more deadly, painful entanglements before it’s too late.”

生物多樣性中心的海洋法律主任克里斯汀·蒙塞爾表示，這一決定“應該發(fā)出一個明確的信號，即聯(lián)邦官員必須立即采取行動，保護這些神奇的動物免受更致命、更痛苦的糾纏，以免為時過晚”。

But lobster fishing groups have said that they're already working to reduce risk to the rare whales and that they're committed to doing more. The groups represent an industry that harvests one of the most lucrative marine resources in the United States. Lobsters were worth well over half a billion dollars at the docks in 2018.

但捕蝦組織表示，他們已經在努力減少這種稀有鯨魚的風險，并承諾采取更多措施。這些團體代表了一個在美國最賺錢的海洋資源之一的產業(yè)。2018年，龍蝦在碼頭的價值超過5億美元。