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头，跟在两名手提鱼竿、神气十足的法国男人身后。我们曲曲折折地行经糕点铺、古董店，还有人们投来的好奇目光，最终在圣马丁运河前停下了脚步。这条开凿于19世纪的古老水道蜿蜒流经首都东北部，与塞纳河相连。

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，这里已是巴黎最受欢迎的钓鱼点之一。运河位于城市正中央，周围车水马龙，几个青少年坐在台阶上抽烟。水面上漂过一块塑料，我的向导弗雷德·米斯纳径直抛竿入水。“这不是下水道，这是条河。”米斯纳说道，“有鱼在这里繁衍生息。”

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.

作为欧盟第五大城市，巴黎似乎并不像一个适合钓鱼的地方。然而，鱼一直是巴黎历史的一部分，最早的巴黎人便以捕鱼为生。在17世纪，塞纳河里生活着超过50种鱼，其中包括鲑鱼。那时鲑鱼的数量非常充足，因此它被称为“穷人的鱼”。

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.

后来，工农业废水汇入水道，原本为巴黎市民提供饮用水源的运河也受到严重污染。到了1900年，鲑鱼已从巴黎水道中绝迹。到1995年，河里就只剩下鳗鱼、红眼鱼、欧鳊和鲤鱼四种鱼。

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.

为了清理水道，法国政府最终投入了100亿欧元。