French Oyster Shortage 法國牡蠣短缺

By Hugh Schofield, Paris

媒體英語會帶大家一起學習BBC撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。

Background: 法國的一些牡蠣養殖農在巴黎舉行抗議。游行隊伍堵塞了塞納河上的一座橋梁并將大批的牡蠣殼傾倒在路面上。他們要求政府幫助他們度過目前這場因牡蠣死亡率過高而引起的經濟危機。

For the third year in a row French oyster farms are being hit by a variety of herpes virus that wipes out literally millions of the infant form of the mollusc known as spats.

The phenomenon first appeared in 2008, with researchers blaming the warm spring weather which provided perfect conditions for the disease to spread.

Last year the virus returned, in some farms destroying the entire production, and now this spring too there are signs of trouble.

Oyster farms in Corsica and on the Mediterranean coast are already seeing high mortality rates, and the fear is that as the seas warm once again the virus will spread to the big oyster-producing areas on the Atlantic coast.

No-one really understands the science of what is happening. It could be linked to global warming, but it's certainly not proven.

In the meantime as many as one in four French oyster farms risk going out of business, and the industry wants instant and large-scale government aid to stave off financial disaster.