The Fishermen of Urban Paris巴黎市區的垂釣者

I’m walking in the busy streets of Paris behind two French men proudly holding fishing rods. We wind past patisse-ries1 and antique shops and curious looks， eventually stopping in front of Canal Saint-Martin—a historic 19th-century waterway that winds through the capital’s northeast and connects to the Seine River.

我走在巴黎熙熙攘攘的街頭，跟在兩名手提魚竿、神氣十足的法國男人身后。我們曲曲折折地行經糕點鋪、古董店，還有人們投來的好奇目光，最終在圣馬丁運河前停下了腳步。這條開鑿于19世紀的古老水道蜿蜒流經首都東北部，與塞納河相連。

Today， it is one of Paris’ most popular fishing spots， located smack2 in the middle of the city with traffic all around and kids sitting on the steps smoking cigarettes. A piece of plastic floats by in the canal and my guide， Fred Miessner， casts his rod straight into the water. “This isn’t a sewage system， it’s a river，” Miessner says. “Fish are living here and spawning3.”

如今，這里已是巴黎最受歡迎的釣魚點之一。運河位于城市正中央，周圍車水馬龍，幾個青少年坐在臺階上抽煙。水面上漂過一塊塑料，我的向導弗雷德·米斯納徑直拋竿入水。“這不是下水道，這是條河。”米斯納說道，“有魚在這里繁衍生息。”

As the fifth-largest city in the European Union， Paris seems an unlikely place to catch fish. But in fact， fish have always been a part of Paris’ history; the first Parisians were fishermen by trade. In the 17th century， the Seine was teeming with more than 50 varieties of fish， including salmon， which was so abundant that it was known as a fish for the poor.

作為歐盟第五大城市，巴黎似乎并不像一個適合釣魚的地方。然而，魚一直是巴黎歷史的一部分，最早的巴黎人便以捕魚為生。在17世紀，塞納河里生活著超過50種魚，其中包括鮭魚。那時鮭魚的數量非常充足，因此它被稱為“窮人的魚”。

Eventually， industrial and agricultural runoff4 smothered the waterways and the canals， originally commissioned to provide city dwellers a source of drinking water， became terribly polluted. By 1900， salmon had disappeared from Parisian waterways. By 1995， only four species of fish—eel， redeye， bream and carp—were left.

后來，工農業廢水匯入水道，原本為巴黎市民提供飲用水源的運河也受到嚴重污染。到了1900年，鮭魚已從巴黎水道中絕跡。到1995年，河里就只剩下鰻魚、紅眼魚、歐鳊和鯉魚四種魚。

In an attempt to clean up the waterways， the government ended up pouring 10 billion euros into the cause. It worked： Today， the Seine is thriving with life; there are roughly 32 species of fish that live in its waters.

為了清理水道，法國政府最終投入了100億歐元。這項努力沒有白費，如今的塞納河重煥生機，大約32種魚類棲息在這一水域。

In the early 2000s， Miessner， who owns a fishing gear company， started noticing increasing numbers of fish in the Seine. And so， on a whim， he decided to try fishing in the Seine with his friends.

2000年代初，擁有一家漁具公司的米斯納開始注意到，塞納河里的魚越來越多。于是他突發奇想，決定和朋友們一起嘗試在塞納河釣魚。

“It was unbelievable： There were so many fish and they were very easy to catch，” he says. What started out as a small community of Parisian fishers eventually ballooned to a full-on5 subculture of street fishing.

“簡直難以置信，魚多得不得了，而且非常容易上鉤。”他說道。一開始巴黎垂釣者只是一個小圈子，最終膨脹成聲勢浩大的“街頭垂釣”亞文化。

Daily， Miessner says he sees at least one other fisherman on his particular corner of the Canal Saint-Martin. Today， more than 6，500 city dwellers hold fishing permits. The modern street fishing culture is predominantly young males， dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt with just a rod and a small bag of lures—a far deviation6 from the floppy-hat-fishing-vest-stereotype of their parents’ generation. With the exception of the rods， street fishermen are completely inconspicuous and blend in seamlessly with the city.

米斯納稱，每天他來到圣馬丁運河畔的特定角落，總能看到至少一位其他垂釣者。如今，已有超過6500名巴黎居民持有釣魚許可證。現代街頭垂釣愛好者以年輕男性為主，他們穿著休閑的牛仔褲和T恤，再帶上一根釣竿和一小包魚餌，與老一輩垂釣者戴寬邊軟帽、穿釣魚背心的老套裝束截然不同。除釣竿外，街頭垂釣者毫不顯眼，與城市融為一體。

“In the beginning when I had a rod out here people called me a fool. They said I had lost my mind，” Miessner says. “But now it’s been more than ten years. People aren’t that surprised anymore.”

“剛開始我在這里拿出釣竿時，人們都說我傻。他們說我腦子壞了。”米斯納說，“但十幾年過去了，現在人們已經見怪不怪了。”

But while there might be plenty of fish， you’re still not supposed to eat them. The waters in Paris are still quite polluted and heavy metals and PCBs7 have accumulated in the flesh of most of the aquatic8 creatures.

不過，雖然河里可能有許多魚，但并不適合食用。巴黎的河水仍然受到嚴重污染，大多數水生生物體內都蓄積了重金屬和多氯聯苯。

Not everyone cares though. According to Miessner， some populations of Paris have a tendency to disregard such advice and will still eat the fish. But from a conservation standpoint， most street fishers tend to abide by a catch and release policy.

但也并非所有人都在意這些。據米斯納說，部分巴黎人對此類警告不以為然，仍會食用這些魚。但從生態保護的角度考慮，大多數街頭垂釣者會遵循“獲后放歸”的原則。

“If you take a fish and you eat it， it disappears，” Miessner， who received his PhD in environmental economics， says. “It’s better if you catch a fish， you take a picture， and you release it. The fact is that we [the street fishers] were the pioneers that revealed that the fish were back.”

“如果你抓到魚就吃掉，魚就沒有了。”米斯納解釋道，他是環境經濟學博士，“更好的做法是釣到魚，拍張照，然后放生。實際上，正是我們這些街頭垂釣者率先發現魚又回來了。”

There is no shortage of fish though; I can clearly see their shadows from where I am standing on the street. The canal indeed is teeming with life. Aquatic plants hug the surface on the water， dragonflies hover and dance. Miessner says he sees quite a few crawfish. Life in the Seine is quite resilient.

不過倒也不愁會沒有魚。我站在街邊，就能清楚看到水中的魚影。運河確實充滿生機，水生植物緊貼水面，蜻蜓盤旋飛舞。米斯納說，他還看到不少小龍蝦。塞納河中生物的生命力相當頑強。

In January 2015， the city drained the Canal Saint-Martin， took out the fish， cleaned up all the sludge9， and then put all the water back again.

2015年1月，巴黎市政府排干了圣馬丁運河的水，將魚類轉移后清理淤泥，最后又重新將水注回。

“One month later， we could see all the life come back again，” he says.

“一個月后，我們就看到所有生命又回歸了。”他說。

I ask Miessner’s intern Hugo Philippon whether or not he has ever eaten the fish in the river and he blushes.

我問米斯納的實習生雨果·菲利蓬是否吃過河里的魚，他臉紅了。

“Once，” he admits. Quickly changing the subject， he emphasizes that the point isn’t to eat the fish. It’s the process that matters. For many street fishers， the sport is a practice of meditation and their way of connecting with nature amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.

“吃過一次。”他承認道，然后迅速轉移話題，強調釣魚的意義并不在于吃魚，而在于過程。對許多街頭垂釣者而言，這項運動是一種冥想練習，是在喧囂的城市生活中與自然建立聯系的一種方式。

“It’s your moment. It belongs to you.” he says.

他說：“這是只屬于你的寶貴時光。”

1 patisserie（法式）糕點店。" 2 smack恰好；直接；不偏不倚地。" 3 spawn（魚、蛙等）產卵。

4 runoff徑流，溢流。" 5 full-on（表示最大程度）完全的；最強烈的。

6 deviation背離；偏離；違背。" 7 PCB = polychlorinated biphenyl多氯聯苯，一種易富集于生物體脂肪中的有機污染物，屬于一類致癌物。" 8 aquatic水生的；水棲的。

9 sludge爛泥；淤泥；爛泥狀沉積物。