时代周刊:缅因州龙虾产业陷入疫情危机(1)（在线收听）

How Maine and its lobsters got caught in America's crises

缅因州及其龙虾被困疫情危机之下

By John Walcott

文/约翰·沃尔科特

Standing on the deck of the Captain Carl, his 34-ft. lobster boat,

站在长34英尺的捕虾船“卡尔船长”的甲板上，

Jeff Woodman reflects on how the rocky shores of Spruce Head, Maine,

杰夫·伍德曼沉思了起来，缅因州云杉头布满礁石的海滩

have become an unlikely front line in two very different fights:

如何就接连变成了两场截然不同的战争——

President Donald Trump's global tariff wars and America's battle against the coronavirus.

特朗普总统的全球关税战争和美国的抗疫之战——的前线？

"Lobstering has been a family business. I'm third-generation," says Woodman.

“捕龙虾一直是一门家庭生意，我们家干这行已经干了三代了，”伍德曼说。

"But it's changing."

“如今形势已经变了。”

Maine's lobster sales are sinking fast.

缅因州的龙虾销量正在迅速下滑。

China was the industry's best customer until 2018,

2018年之前，中国一直是该行业最大的客户，

when Beijing retaliated for U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods by slapping a 25% levy on the elite treat,

2018年，美国加大对中国商品的关税力度后，北京推出了对美国龙虾加征25%进口关税的政策，

while reducing its tariff on Canadian catches.

同时降低了针对加拿大捕捞品的关税。

As the Trump Administration has faced off with the E.U.,

由于特朗普政府与欧盟的对峙，

Europe also has been buying more lobster from Canada.

欧洲也加大了从加拿大进口龙虾的力度。

By early this year, Maine's year-on-year lobster exports to China and Europe had both dropped by about 50%.

今年年初，缅因州对中国和欧洲的龙虾出口均同比下降50%左右。

The market for Homarus americanus had shrunk to little more than domestic consumers

波士顿龙虾的市场几乎只剩下国内消费者

and a limited number of wealthy epicures in Asia and the Middle East,

以及为数不多来自亚洲和中东地区的多金老饕。

says Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers' Association.

缅因州龙虾交易商协会执行董事安妮·蔡利基斯透露。

"Then comes COVID," Tselikis says.

“接着新冠疫情又来了，”蔡利基斯说。

The major U.S. buyers of Maine lobster, from casinos to cruise ships, all shut down.

赌场、游轮等缅因州龙虾主要的国内买家悉数歇业。

The state's lobstermen and women are still venturing out,

该州龙虾行业的男男女女照旧出海打捞，

but about a third have received nearly $15 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans

但他们中间大约1/3的人获得了近1500万美元的联邦薪资保护计划（PPP）贷款，

to help them cope with COVID-19-related losses.

帮助他们应对新冠肺炎造成的损失。

Mainers aren't used to being caught in national crises.

缅因州人尚不习惯陷入国家危机。

Despite the long tradition of Beltway residents flocking to the state each summer,

尽管环城公路地带的居民每年夏天都会蜂拥至该州，

America's Vacationland has an ambivalent relationship with the federal government.

（缅因州这个）度假圣地与联邦政府的关系却颇为矛盾。

Policies devised with good intentions in the Capitol haven't always survived the voyage Down East

国会大厦好意制定的政策并不总能像以“云包”姿势--尾巴朝下，爪子向上--登机，

as well as a plane full of live lobster can travel in a "cloud pack"—tails down, claws up—from Spruce Head to Europe.

从云杉头飞到欧洲的鲜活龙虾那样在顺风向东航行的过程中幸存下来。