美国国家公共电台 NPR 7 Years After BP Oil Spill, Oyster Farming Takes Hold In South

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A new kind of farming is taking hold here in Alabama, oyster¹ aquaculture along the Gulf² Coast. Some commercial fishermen now harvest oysters³. NPR's Debbie Elliott, whom we know, reports.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE⁴: You drive 8 miles down a dirt road through the swamps of southwest Alabama nearly to the Gulf of Mexico to find the Zirlott family's oyster farm. Lane Zirlott greets me on a strip of land that juts⁵ into Sandy Bay.

LANE ZIRLOTT: The point used to be called Myrtle Point.

ELLIOTT: As in the woman's name Myrtle. But legend has it the name changed after a deadly dispute over oyster territory in 1929.

ZIRLOTT: Two men got in an argument over the rights to the lease. One guy came back that afternoon. He killed the other guy. And so, from that time forward, they called it Murder Point. So we kind of adopted the name and put it with the tag line oysters worth killing⁶ for.

ELLIOTT: The Murder Point Oyster farm covers about 2 and a half acres in the bay. There are 10 long rows of wood piling and PVC piping. Oblong oyster baskets hang from lines strung between them. Farmers wade⁷ into the chest-deep water to shake the oyster baskets.

(SOUNDBITE OF OYSTER BASKET RATTLING)

ELLIOTT: Zirlott says they're knocking the edges off the shell, keeping it more compact and forcing the oyster inside to grow deep and plump instead of wide and flat.

ZIRLOTT: We found that the petite oyster was the way to go - deep cupped, 2 and a half, 3 inches max - perfect, little, one-shot oyster.

(SOUNDBITE OF OYSTER BASKET RATTLING)

ELLIOTT: He's got 1.8 million oysters in the water, all intended for the premium⁸ half-shell market to make the raw-bar menu alongside more well-known farmed oysters from the East and West coasts. His clients include trendy spots in Houston and New Orleans.

ZIRLOTT: So what we've been doing is trying to redefine what people are thinking of a Southern Gulf oyster.

ELLIOTT: The Gulf oyster industry suffered a blow during the 2010 BP oil spill. And while wild-oyster harvesting from reefs is back in business. The industry is still not up to pre-spill levels. This off-bottom farming has taken off since. There were no oyster farms in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Now there are dozens from Louisiana to Florida, according to Auburn University marine⁹ scientist Bill Walton, also known as Dr. Oyster because he spawns¹⁰ oysters at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab on the Alabama coast.

(SOUNDBITE OF LARVAE¹¹ BEING POURED)

BILL WALTON: The fertilized¹² egg that we put in this tank - within a day, it's a swimming larva that actually has to eat. And it's swimming around, and it's got a stomach. And, I mean, it's a critter.

ELLIOTT: The hatchery produces oyster seed to sell to farmers. Walton says the industry is still young. But he's hopeful it can be an option for people looking to make a living on the coast.

WALTON: Even in 2008, 2009, you had people before the oil spill who weren't sure - do you tell your teenage son or daughter to go into shrimping? But you don't want to move away. You don't want to leave your family. So how do you keep - how do you stay living in your community, working on the water?

ELLIOTT: For Lane Zirlott, a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, oyster farming was a way back home.

ZIRLOTT: We shrimped from the Texas-Mexican border as far as Virginia at times. And so you had to be gone. It was coming - I got a little boy, got a little girl. It was time for me to be home. But what to do?

ELLIOTT: His mother took an aquaculture class and got the family to try oyster farming about three years ago. Now Murder Point is looking to double in size and open its own hatchery. Zirlott says he's encouraging his children to get degrees in biology.

ZIRLOTT: I'm looking to keep a tradition alive but by new modern ways to do it.

ELLIOTT: He touts¹³ Murder Points as the ultimate farm-to-table food and uses social media to market with the hashtag #butterlove. That's for the flavor.

ZIRLOTT: When you get past the salt, right now you're starting to taste a rich, creamy, buttery aftertaste. So when you swallow it, you've got butter. Yeah? Did you taste it?

ELLIOTT: Yeah. Yeah.

ZIRLOTT: (Laughter).

ELLIOTT: Mega chef Emeril Lagasse's Instagram recently featured a shot of an iced down platter of raw oysters he was having at Fisher's Restaurant in Orange Beach, Ala. They were Murder Points. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

1 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 juts   

v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A small section of rock juts out into the harbour. 山岩的一小角突入港湾。 来自辞典例句
• The balcony juts out over the swimming pool. 阳台伸出在游泳池上方。 来自辞典例句

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

9 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 spawns   

（鱼、蛙等的）子，卵( spawn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lava Spawns now require 15 attacks to replicate, up from 14. 火人现在需要攻击15下才会分裂，而不是14下。
• Idleness spawns discontent, whereas overwork leads to mental and physical exhaustion. 懒惰滋生不满，而过度工作导致精神和身体的疲劳。

11 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

12 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

13 touts   

n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• Many vouchers are returned for cash, allowing touts and middle men to make a healthy margin. 许多月饼券都被兑换成现金，这让券贩子和中间商赚取了不蜚的利润。 来自互联网
• Spotting prey, the customary crowd of hustlers and touts swarmed around, jostling for my business. 照例有大群的拉客黄牛在寻觅猎物，他们争相过来抢我的生意。 来自互联网