No one can deny that the BP oil spill has devastated wildlife on the region. But for a perishing fishing industry, ambulance-chasing lawyers, it is a golden opportunity.

　　毋庸置疑，英国石油公司原油泄露使得墨西哥湾的生态几近毁灭。然而对于当地濒死的渔业以及自身难保的律师们，此次“灾难”却是个发财的难得机会。

　　At a popular bar, the Vu-Doo Lounge, fishermen ply me with riches-to-rags stories. "I was making $100,000 a year. Now I’m making nothing,' I was told by Tim Cheramie, who was buying rounds of Bud Lite for a group of friends. One boat captain, Dodd "Milk" Champagne, blurted: "Those of us with bigger boats are still shrimping because we can go further out to sea, beyond the closed area." His vessel was due to depart the next morning for a ten-day expedition. The vessel will cover more miles, devouring extra fuel, so he is entitled to compensation from BP on a monthly basis, and he has just received his first cheque of $5,000. His three deckhands also have each submitted claims – for $2,500 each – for compensation "lost earnings".

　　在路易斯安那州格兰德岛一家小有名气的酒吧里，渔民们对我诉说着各自的落魄经历。蒂姆给自己和朋友们买醉的同时抱怨道：“我以前一年能赚10万呢，现在什么都没了。”另一个人称“牛奶”名叫多德的捕虾人则说：“我们当中船大一些的还能出海捕虾，因为可以驶向更远的海域（近海已被污染）。”多德的捕虾船明日即将进行为期十天的远航，路更远，消耗的燃料也更多，故而他有权从英国石油公司得到每月5千美元的赔偿。最近他刚刚收到第一张赔款支票。而他的三个水手也会有每月2千5百美元的收入，理由是“失业”。

　　Hundreds of fishermen with smaller boats have converted them into oil-skimming vessels, which lower absorbent pads, resembling old-fashioned draught stoppers, into the ocean to scoop out the contaminants.

　　成百上千的渔民已经将自己的小渔船改装成了“滤油船”，即将吸油垫沉入海洋，模仿古老的泄水塞，将污染物过滤出来。

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       A BP source says the company is paying them between $1,200 and $3,000 a day, in addition to which they are reimbursed for their meals and fuel. To the disgraced oil company, desperate to retrieve its reputation, this undoubtedly seems worthwhile.

　　据英国石油公司内部人士称，除了支付给参与“滤油”渔民的伙食费和燃料费外，公司每天还要给他们支付1200美元到1300美元。当然，对于极力想挽回名誉的英国石油公司，这种做法也是值得的。

　　However, one of the captains at the Lounge mordantly confided to me that his business lost nearly $40,000 last year. Soaring fuel costs and cheap imports of shrimp from China and Thailand have driven prices to as low as 30 cents a pound and according to official estimates, more than 16 percent of Grand Isle’s residents subsist on incomes below the poverty line.

　　但是，随后一个渔民私下里向我吐露，损失并不是原油泄漏后才开始的。他去年就损失了4万美元。根据官方数据，飙升的燃料价格以及来自中国、泰国的廉价虾使得当地虾类价格降至一磅30美分，而格兰德岛超过16%的渔民都生活在贫困线以下。

　　Long before the spill, the industry throughout the US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico was being driven into extinction by another factor that conveniently has gone unmentioned by the politicians: pollution.

　　事实上，早在此次原油泄漏事故之前，墨西哥湾一带的捕鱼业就因当地的污染问题而濒临绝境。而这一切，政治家们视而不见。

　　"I hate to say anything good about BP," I was told by a fisherman who asked not to be identified, because he is collecting $1,200 a day by the company to skim oil. "But it was bad before the spill. I was lucky if I made $1,000 a month. After the mortgage on my house and other bills, we had maybe $120 a month left to buy food. We lived on chicken wings. We couldn't afford to eat our own shrimp. Now BP pays me $1,200 a day."

　　“关于英石油，我不想说什么好话，”一个不愿透露姓名的渔民说道。“但是此前生活确实很糟糕。那时候我常常想，如果一个月能拿到1千块该多好。还了房贷和其他款项后，每月还有120块钱的剩余能让我们买些吃的。我们自己的虾太贵了，吃不起。可是现在英石油一天就可以给我1200块。”

　　It has cost the firm over $1 billion to date, a figure which includes $40.2 million in payments to people in the region to make up for the money they claim they have lost. Some workers ruefully admitted to me that they may have exaggerated.

　　迄今为止，英国公司已为此次事故投入十亿英镑，这里面就包括赔偿当地渔民的4千多万美元。一些渔民承认他们夸大了自己的损失。

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        A high school student said: "I've asked for $2,500 but I really only work for my dad."

　　一个高中生这么说道：“我已经申请了2500美元的赔偿金，但事实上我只是为我父亲工作而已。”

　　And a boat owner said: "I only shrimp part-time. Last year I netted $22,000. My main job is working tugs. I put in for $5,000 for me a month and $2,500 for my wife because she is my deckhand."

　　另外一个船主则说：“我只是业余时间捕虾。但是我为自己要了每月5千块的赔偿，为我的妻子要了2500块，当然他们只知道她是我的水手而已。”

　　Ambulance-chasing lawyers – who work for free in return for 30 percent of the compensation if they score a victory – are eagerly recruiting clients.

　　当地饥肠辘辘的索赔律师们如今也是炙手可热，他们纷纷打出广告要帮“因漏油遭受损失的居民”和英国石油公司打官司。一旦官司打赢拿到赔偿，律师能挣3成佣金。

　　Another young worker at the diner cackled with laughter when I asked her about the plague of illness which suddenly seems to be affecting so many on Grand Isle. She says she attributes it to the "beer money" being handed out by BP.

　　近日岛上盛传因为此次原油泄漏很多人似乎突然都得了病，我问一个在餐馆工作的年轻女孩怎么看，她咯咯地笑了起来。她说可能是英石油给的酒钱太多，大家把身体喝坏了。

　　Emerging from the kitchen, the diner's owner, Miss Sarah – as she is fondly known locally – frowned at the giggling girl. "I will say I am surprised that Lisa got ill," she said. "But I wouldn't want BP to think people on Grand Isle want any money that's not owed to them. I've lost business myself from sports fishermen who'd normally be here. This is the start of our high season. But I won't be suing as long as BP does what they've promised and compensates everyone fairly.' Whether or not the unique ecology of this island can be saved, she says, she is determined to keep its good name.

　　餐馆老板娘萨沙女士从厨房出来，对着这个嬉笑的女孩皱起了眉头。“如果丽萨（上文女孩）生病了我确实会吃惊，”她说。“但是我可不想让英石油觉得这个岛上的渔民想占有那些不属于他们的钱财。其实如今来我们里喝酒的渔民已经很少见了。而往常这个时候可是消费旺季。但是如果英石油恪守承诺，公平补偿，我不会起诉的。”当被问到这个岛的生态还有没有被挽救过来的余地时，她只是说，她要维护这个岛的好名声。