華人在澳大利亞挖蜆 惹惱當地居民
A storm has been brewing in the otherwise quaint Victorian coastal town of Venus Bay, Australia.
一場風暴正在原本古樸的澳大利亞維多利亞省海岸小鎮金星灣醞釀。And it all centers on the innocuous shellfish - the pipi.
而這場風暴的中心竟是無毒貝類生物--蜆。At the height of summer, when the conditions are right, more than 2,500 predominately Chinese people can be found digging up the coastline of Venus Bay, 175 km south-east of Melbourne, in search of pipis to eat.
金星灣位於墨爾本東南方向175公里處，盛夏時節，條件成熟時，會有2500多人沿着金星灣海岸線挖蜆來當食材，其中大部分是中國人。
It has prompted a fierce pushback by locals, who insist their concerns about the day trippers are not racist but are instead driven by environmental and social concerns.
這引發了當地人的強烈不滿，他們堅稱對“一日遊”遊客的擔憂並非源於種族歧視，而是出於環境及社會原因。Scientists and authorities are now conducting research aimed at eliminating the emotional elements of the debate in an attempt to quantify the ecological impact of pipi harvesting.
科學家和有關部門正在進行研究，試圖量化挖蜆的生態影響，消除這場爭論中的情感因素。
Ever since the 1960s when the area around Venus Bay was first developed, the inconspicuous shellfish found under the sand at low tide has been harvested both commercially and recreationally for bait.
自20世紀60年代起，金星灣周邊地區得到開發，退潮時挖蜆作魚餌成了這裏的一項商業及消遣活動。But over the past eight years, the town, home to a mere 500 permanent residents, has become a hotspot for pipi harvesting among Melbourne's Chinese community. On a busy summer's day, thousands of pipi harvesters dig up the main beach in search of the shellfish.
金星灣常住居民只有500人，但過去8年，這裏成爲墨爾本華人的挖蜆勝地。到了熱鬧的夏季，一天就有數千人在金星灣最大的沙灘“一號灘”挖蜆。Locals have become frustrated with the stress visiting pipi harvesters place on the town's amenities - the car parks, rubbish bins, public toilets - even claiming it restricts emergency service access to the beach.
前來挖蜆的遊客給金星灣的停車場、垃圾桶、公共廁所等設施帶來壓力，這讓當地居民感到困擾。當地人甚至聲稱，遊客阻礙了應急服務進入沙灘。Beyond the changing dynamic of the town though, there are concerns the rapid increase in pipi harvesting is seeing the species' populations being depleted beyond repair.
除了這些變化，還有人擔心挖蜆數量迅速增長使得種羣數量減少到無法恢復的程度。John Morrongiello, a lecturer of marine biology at the University of Melbourne, is conducting a study into the impact of pipi harvesting at Venus Bay. "At the moment there's a degree of he-said, she-said going on; what we really need is some hard facts and that is our role as scientists to do an objective research project."
墨爾本大學海洋生物系講師約翰·莫倫哲路正在研究挖蜆對金星灣的影響。她表示：“目前存在許多公衆爭論，我們真正需要的是確切證據，而科學家要做的就是進行客觀研究。”
