Mexican Town Hopes Octopus Farm Lifts Local Economy
2022-03-24
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The eight-armed sea animal known as the octopus is becoming a popular food in many parts of the world.
2But, as more people want to eat them, the population in the wild is decreasing.
3Experts blame rising ocean water temperatures and overfishing for their falling numbers.
4Octopuses do poorly in warm water.
5And since they are in great demand, fishermen can make more money by catching them in the wild.
6As a result, a small fishing village on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico is working with one of the country's universities.
7The group wants to find out if the sea animals can be farmed successfully.
8An octopus farm would help the local economy, which is being hurt because there are not as many octopi as usual.
9"Octopi" is one word for more than one octopus.
10"Octopuses" is another plural form of the word.
11Carlos Rosas is a biologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
12He is working to start an octopus farm in the fishing village of Sisal.
13Recently, Rosas showed reporters the farm.
14He reached into a large tank and pulled out a baby octopus, about the size of a small ball.
15The octopus lives in the tank with about 250 others.
16The project aims to see if the babies can live to be large enough inside the tank to be sold for food.
17Scientists and animal welfare activists have long been concerned about growing octopi inside tanks.
18The animals are believed to be able to think and also to feel happiness and worry.
19Now, Rosas and his team think they may be able to keep the octopi healthy until they are large enough to sell.
20They have created an octopus food made from fish waste, like heads, that are normally thrown back into the ocean by fishermen.
21The food is turned into small balls which are fed to the octopi.
22Rosas said the farm gets what it needs for the octopi and the fishermen can make extra money by selling their unused fish parts.
23He said the plan is to make the fishing business more "efficient" and raise the number of octopi available for food.
24If the project is successful, its timing will be just right.
25One research company predicts that by 2025, the worldwide demand for octopus will increase by over 60 percent from 2018.
26A Spanish company wants to test the octopus food created by the university researchers.
27If it is successful, Nueva Pescanova will try to open its own octopus farm.
28Biologists, however, are not sure an octopus farm will be successful, even with the right food.
29Sarah McAnulty studies octopi.
30She said the animals need to have a lot of space.
31They may even try to eat each other or bite their own arms.
32"When you want an animal to be raised for farming, you want a lot of them in a relatively small space, and so you can't really keep them happy together," McAnulty said.
33Even with the risks, Rosas said it is a good time to try to raise octopi on a farm.
34If the farms are successful, the number of animals in the wild can increase.
35But the conservation group Oceana said the Mexican government should work harder to help the wild octopus population.
36Renata Terrazas is vice president of the Mexican part of Oceana.
37She said the government should do a better job regulating how much fisherman can catch.
38She said it is not a good sign for the environment if a nation is trying to keep the seafood business alive by developing farms.
39She said the message the effort sends is: "I don't want to do anything with the oceans and I don't care if we are depleting them."
40Rosas said he believes more work needs to be done to make sure octopi raised on farms are healthy.
41But he added, it is important to think about the fishermen in the village, who are very poor.
42A successful octopus farm will lift the economy.
43I'm Dan Friedell.
1The eight-armed sea animal known as the octopus is becoming a popular food in many parts of the world. But, as more people want to eat them, the population in the wild is decreasing. 2Experts blame rising ocean water temperatures and overfishing for their falling numbers. 3Octopuses do poorly in warm water. And since they are in great demand, fishermen can make more money by catching them in the wild. 4As a result, a small fishing village on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico is working with one of the country's universities. The group wants to find out if the sea animals can be farmed successfully. 5An octopus farm would help the local economy, which is being hurt because there are not as many octopi as usual. "Octopi" is one word for more than one octopus. "Octopuses" is another plural form of the word. 6Carlos Rosas is a biologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. He is working to start an octopus farm in the fishing village of Sisal. 7Recently, Rosas showed reporters the farm. He reached into a large tank and pulled out a baby octopus, about the size of a small ball. The octopus lives in the tank with about 250 others. The project aims to see if the babies can live to be large enough inside the tank to be sold for food. 8Scientists and animal welfare activists have long been concerned about growing octopi inside tanks. The animals are believed to be able to think and also to feel happiness and worry. 9Now, Rosas and his team think they may be able to keep the octopi healthy until they are large enough to sell. 10They have created an octopus food made from fish waste, like heads, that are normally thrown back into the ocean by fishermen. 11The food is turned into small balls which are fed to the octopi. 12Rosas said the farm gets what it needs for the octopi and the fishermen can make extra money by selling their unused fish parts. 13He said the plan is to make the fishing business more "efficient" and raise the number of octopi available for food. 14If the project is successful, its timing will be just right. One research company predicts that by 2025, the worldwide demand for octopus will increase by over 60 percent from 2018. 15A Spanish company wants to test the octopus food created by the university researchers. If it is successful, Nueva Pescanova will try to open its own octopus farm. Biologists, however, are not sure an octopus farm will be successful, even with the right food. 16Sarah McAnulty studies octopi. She said the animals need to have a lot of space. They may even try to eat each other or bite their own arms. 17"When you want an animal to be raised for farming, you want a lot of them in a relatively small space, and so you can't really keep them happy together," McAnulty said. 18Even with the risks, Rosas said it is a good time to try to raise octopi on a farm. If the farms are successful, the number of animals in the wild can increase. 19But the conservation group Oceana said the Mexican government should work harder to help the wild octopus population. Renata Terrazas is vice president of the Mexican part of Oceana. She said the government should do a better job regulating how much fisherman can catch. 20She said it is not a good sign for the environment if a nation is trying to keep the seafood business alive by developing farms. She said the message the effort sends is: "I don't want to do anything with the oceans and I don't care if we are depleting them." 21Rosas said he believes more work needs to be done to make sure octopi raised on farms are healthy. But he added, it is important to think about the fishermen in the village, who are very poor. A successful octopus farm will lift the economy. 22I'm Dan Friedell. 23Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based a report by Reuters. 24Have you tried to eat octopus before? How does it taste to you? Let us know. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 25Words in This Story 26welfare -n. the state of being happy, healthy, or successful 27efficient -adj. able to produce desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy 28relatively -adv. when compared to others 29conservation - n. the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources 30regulate - v. to make rules or laws that control (something) 31deplete - v. to use most or all of (something important); to greatly reduce the amount of (something)