直到最近，科学家都很难确定是什么原因导致大量鱼类从公海消失。
Now they have an answer: human beings.
现在答案出来了，那就是人类造成的。
By using emergency signals from ships, scientists got what they are calling the first complete picture of commercial fishing worldwide. And a new study claims the effect is much bigger than researchers thought.
通过使用船只发出的紧急信号，科学家们获得了他们所谓的首张全球商业捕捞的完整图片。一项新的研究声称，其影响远远超出了研究人员的设想。
Major commercial fishing covers more than 55 percent of the oceans. The world's fishing fleet travels more than 460 million kilometers a year, according to a study in the journal Science. That is equal to three times the distance between Earth and the sun.
大型商业捕捞覆盖了55%以上的海洋面积。根据《科学》杂志发表的一项研究，全球渔船队每年的行程超过4.6亿公里，这相当于太阳到地球之间距离的三倍。
Five countries do 85 percent of high seas fishing. The five are China, Spain, Taiwan (China), Japan and South Korea.
五个国家（或地区）占到了公海捕鱼量的85%，它们分别是中国、西班牙、中国台湾地区、日本以及韩国。
Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada, called the fishing study "mind-blowing." Worm helped prepare a report on the findings. He likened industrial fishing to factories that are mass producing goods for people around the world.
加拿大达尔豪斯大学的海洋生物学家鲍里斯·沃姆(Boris Worm)称这项捕捞研究“令人大吃一惊。”沃姆帮助准备了这项研究报告。他将工业捕捞比作为世界人民大量生产产品的工厂。
The latest fishing information was taken from 22 billion ship safety signals sent to satellites orbiting the Earth. Before this, scientists had to use shipping records and observations, which were not always correct.
最新的捕捞信息采自于发给地球环绕卫星的220亿条船舶安全信号。在此之前，科学家们不得不利用航运记录和观察结果，这些并不完全准确。
Ships are obeying no-fishing areas and times, although they do sail along the edges of marine-protected areas. The study noted a drop in fishing around holidays, including Christmas, New Year's and the Lunar New Year.
船舶都遵守禁止捕捞区域和时间的规定，尽管它们都沿着海洋保护区的边缘航行。该研究指出了假期期间捕捞量有所下降，这些假期包括圣诞节、元旦以及春节。
"The maps of global fishing in this report are sobering," said Douglas McCauley, a marine biologist who wasn't part of the study. He works at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
并未参与这项研究的海洋生物学家道格拉斯·麦考利（Douglas McCauley）表示，“这项报告中的全球捕捞地图发人深省。”他就职于加州大学圣巴巴拉分校。
The top country for fishing is China. Of the 40 million hours that large ships fished in 2016, 17 million hours were by boats sailing under a Chinese flag, noted marine biologist Barbara Block. She is with Stanford University in California.
最大的捕捞国是中国。海洋生物学家芭芭拉·布洛克（Barbara Block）指出，在2016年大型渔船4千万小时的捕捞时间里，有1700万小时来自于悬挂中国国旗的船只。布洛克就职于加州的斯坦福大学。
"No longer is the ocean, especially the high seas – out of sight, out of mind," noted Jane Lubchenco in an email. She formerly led America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
简·卢布琴科（Jane Lubchenco）在一封电子邮件中指出，“不仅是海洋，尤其是公海。眼不见心不烦啊。”她曾经领导过美国国家海洋和大气管理局。
Lubchenco was not part of the study.
卢布琴科也没有参与这项研究。
From 2012 to 2016, the researchers collected signals from boats. New laws require many ships to carry identification systems that every few seconds report their position to satellites as a safety measure.
研究人员收集了从2012年到2016年的船舶信号。新的法律要求大量船舶携带识别系统，每隔几秒向卫星报告其位置来作为一项安全措施。
Scientists then used computer programs to show where the boats were fishing, how they were moving, and what they were likely fishing for and how the fish were caught.
然后科学家们利用电脑程序显示出这些船舶在哪里捕鱼，如何移动，他们可能在捕捞什么鱼类，以及他们的捕捞方式。
The information was then compared with log books from some ships and they were the same, Worm said. It also shows that in the high seas, there is a heavy use of long line fishing, which catches more of the top predators like tuna, sharks and whales.
沃姆表示，然后他们将这些信息同一些船舶的航行日志相比较，它们是一致的。它还表明，在公海上大量采用了延绳钓，这样捕捞的大多是金枪鱼、鲨鱼和鲸鱼等顶级肉食动物。
Researchers said the findings could be used to better protect the oceans and keep fisheries alive.
研究人员表示，这些研究结果可用于更好地保护海洋并保持渔业活力。
Block said that for too long scientists failed to recognize that human activities have the biggest effect on the planet. He added we have to develop a better system or else we'll end up with a planet without Bluefin tuna and some sharks.
布洛克表示，科学家们长期没有意识到人类活动对地球产生的影响最大。他补充说，我们必须开发出一个更好的系统，否则地球上的蓝鳍金枪鱼和一些鲨鱼最终会消失。
I'm Susan Shand.
我是苏珊·珊德。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)