Called an "open sewer" in the recent past, the Bronx River is now clean enough for a type of herring to once again be introduced and to make runs to the ocean.

就在不久前布朗克斯河还被称作 “露天的下水道”，而现在它已经清澈到可以再次引入一种鲱鱼并把它送入海洋。

撰文/播音：史蒂夫·米尔斯基(Steve Mirsky)

翻译：路识宇

审校：杨枭

 “So here’s the first of the alewives, all silvery, they’re all about the same size, you can’t tell the boys from the girls. These will be the first.”

“这些就是第一批引入布朗克斯河的灰西鲱，它们全是银色的，都差不多大小，分不清性别。”

Stephen Gephard, fisheries biologist with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

斯蒂芬·格法德（Stephen Gaphard）是康涅狄格州能源与环境保护部的渔业生物学家。

Gephard brought 400 alewives down from the Nutmeg state to be released into the Bronx River on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo on April 20th. The Bronx River was once so polluted that it was called an open sewer. But it’s been cleaned up to the point where it can now once again support these fish, which were common here in the 19th century.

4月20号，格法德带着来自肉豆蔻州(康涅狄格州的别称)的400条灰西鲱来到布朗克斯动物园，并在布朗克斯河边投放了它们。布朗克斯河曾经污染十分严重, 甚至被称为露天下水道。但是现在它已经被清理干净，并且可以再次让各类的鱼在此生存，就像十九世纪时那样。

“Alewives are herring, they’re kind of like a miniature shad.” John Waldman is an aquatic conservation biologist at Queens College, who was on hand for the release.

“灰西鲱是一种鲱鱼，有点像缩小版的美国西鲱。”约翰·瓦尔德曼（John Waldman）如是说。他是纽约市皇后大学的水生生物保护学家, 也参与了放生活动。

“They’re born in fresh water, they rear for the first year in freshwater then go to sea, spend a few years growing larger and then return to the river they were born in, much like salmon or sturgeon or shad. It’s called an anadromous life history. And this river appears to have a small relic run (游动的鱼群)that never really expanded because it was limited by the habitat.

“它们在淡水中出生并在那里生活一年后游去海里，在海水里长几年之后它们就会回到原来出生的河流，就像鲑鱼、鲟鱼或鲱鱼一样。这是被称为溯河产卵的生活习性。这条河流似乎有一个小型的鱼群圣地，但因为栖息地的限制而没有扩大开来。”

“And now there’s a fish ladder on the first dam and these fish that are being stocked today, 400 alewives…and the idea here is that if they spawn in this section, the young will kind of imprint on this area, run downstream and then return when they’re old to spawn several years from now and want to go over the fish ladder.

“现在，在第一座水坝上有一座鱼梯，那里有400只灰西鲱, 这样做的目的在于，如果这些鱼在这里产卵，那么它们的后代多少会记住这里，这样再即使之后顺流而下，几年后等到它们长到可以产卵时还可以从鱼梯上来。”

“In the meantime, several fish have used the fish ladder on their own this week that were from wild fish that were existing as a little relic stock, I believe, in this section of the river, so between the two I think the future looks very promising to have a much larger run.

“同时，还有几种野生鱼类也使用了鱼梯，我认为在这个水域中这几种鱼已经可以被看作是活化石了，所以这段水域的前景还是很不错的，未来很可能有更多的鱼类也参与到使用鱼梯的队伍中。”

“The water here behind the Bronx Zoo is just perfect for alewife spawning, it’s very slow moving, it’s just what they like. And there’s a series of dams above this first dam that are probably going to have fish ladders in the future, too. And if we get them all online working, this little river that flows through the heart of the Bronx could become a major alewife producer, which is kind of fun in its own right, to have such an urban location producing these wild fish, but it also is a great tie to the ocean.

“布朗克斯动物园后方的水域很适合灰西鲱产卵，水流速很慢，正是它们喜欢的那种。而且在第一个水坝上面还有一系列的水坝，这些水坝将来也可能会设有鱼梯。如果我们把它们全部连接起来，那么这条流经布朗克斯区中心的小河将会成为灰西鲱的主要产地，这就变得很有趣了——这些野生的鱼在城市里养殖，同时又与海洋紧密联结。”

“Alewives and other bait fish really drive the marine food chain, and this is a contribution to our greater coastal waters. So I’m very excited by the prospects of this restoration.”

“灰西鲱和其他诱饵鱼实实在在地推动了海洋食物链，这对我们更大的沿海水域有不小的贡献。所以我对这次修复的前景充满期待。”

Gephard: “Alright, we gotta get ‘em in the water.”

格法德说：“来吧，我们该把鱼放进水里啦。”

—Steve Mirsky