Red Snapper Fishing Regulations Essay Example for Free

Red Snapper Fishing Regulations Essay Recommendation to implement different regulations on Red Snapper fishing. Many people like myself, look forward each year to the overly exciting fishing season to catch the beloved snapper. Season dates along with size and possession limits are nothing new to the fisherman; but when a council decides to shrink a fishing season that is normally a month long down to a meager 9 days it can be heart breaking for many. Maintaining the support and sustainability of these fish is an extremely important task, that no one disagrees with, but when almost taking away the season, in its entirety, one can alter many people’s plans, hobbies, and ways of life. I plan to propose an alternant way to preserve and maintain the ecosystem of these fish while providing adequate and fair regulations for all. The purpose of this report it to persuade the fisheries councils to address the current issues that stand with recreational snapper fishing. I will provide statistics and also analyzed data that I have gathered to conclude as to what the best option is to solve these problems. Current Situation: The amount of anglers in the Gulf of Mexico rises every day with more wanting to catch snapper. For the length of my life there has been regulations to maintain these fish, while they did a great job to preserve life and keep the angler happy, the recent change as of 2014 does not. Many know that these certain fish can, mostly, be found in deeper waters near structure, such as reefs and oil platforms; and also many know that there are numerous organization and petitions to keep old, unused oilrigs standing in the gulf because of their ability to maintain and abundance of wildlife beneath. With more conservation to help these fish thrive why did the councils decide to shrink the season dates from a previous 30+ day season to a minute 9 days when there are other councils also participating to help the numbers of fish? With this drastic change in regulation many anglers, who, in years previous, fished for these snapper, found that it was not worth the time and money it requires to go after them. (Boat Launch) With a limit of 2 per person per day, a 9-day season simply makes no sense. The council did warn the public that the season would be shorter this year, but no one expected it to be a number in the single digits! The federal management of red snapper is based on the numbers coming out of the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico instead of by location, such as state waters. Now that the federal red snapper season has been set at a ridiculously low nine days it reiterates the fallacy of the current federal management of this great fishery. This system cannot be tweaked or incrementally improved. It needs to be totally overhauled; the management of the recreational red snapper fishery needs to be transferred to the states where we can do quality stock assessments and set reasonable seasons commensurate with the biomass that is in the Gulf of Mexico’’, says Alabama Marine Resources Director Chris Blankenship. (Gulf) When states want to take matters into their own hands without any federal management or help, the issue at hand has become quite serious. The councils responsible for negotiations and attributing propositions to the federal  regulation of these fisheries must undertake a new stand and take responsibility in order to serve the public fairly and justly. I believe a simple solution that will help this situation has been previously used for another species of fish. When speaking to Dr. L. Gleeson of the Coast Conservation Association he stated, â€Å" When we passed the motion to decrease the minimum size of Speckled Trout it was because after years of increased conservation we noticed that the population of the species was up about 75%, so we felt that we could maintain good numbers while pleasing the fisherman with a smaller legal size.†(Red Snapper) A simple maneuver that decreases the minimum legal size of the Red Snapper would do just as most want. It could keep the possession limit to 2 per person but allow more anglers to participate in the fishery by allowing the smaller snapper at the shallower oil rigs to be harvested instead of requiring anglers to spend the money and time that it takes to travel the extra nautical miles to the deeper rigs to find the larger, legal snapper. The CCA had its reservations when lowering the minimum legal size for trout but after research of the species for 5 years now the evidences provides belief that the population has not decreased, and spawning has remaining at equal levels. Certainly, you may have questions and reservations as well, but with all of the excess help to regulate and maintain the red snapper fishery there should be no question that this is an effective way to balance the support and establish a new regulation strategy for the recent years to come. I believe if this system were implemented soon we would see related results within the same time frame of a few years, if not shorter. Since there is no season dates for speckled trout, the off-season for red snapper would show normal spawning numbers with no decrease in population. This maneuver is focused mainly on maintaining fishery numbers while improving angler satisfaction and participation. Methodology: I have conducted personal interviews, researched numerous articles online,  and created an online survey in order to support my methodology. My first step was talking to a few strangers at the boat launch who frequently fish for snapper. The questions I asked mainly focused on the topic at hand, more specifically if they agree with the shorter season. While asking questions personally to peer anglers I found that 9/10 people did not fish for snapper this year because of the heavily regulated and shortened season. Most set out in hopes to catch snapper at least twice in a season, but with this 9 day season most couldn’t due to scheduling and time constraints. Many would also like to see an overhaul of the regulation entirely. (Boat Launch) I then created an online survey that I dispersed via Facebook and had numerous random individuals answer the questions at hand regarding this issue. In order to be sure that my data wasn’t skewed or distorted I asked that only individuals who were licensed recreational anglers take my survey. Of the 20 that took my online survey more than 16 actually pursue snapper and of those individuals all of them disagree with the ruling of the federally regulated 9-day season. (Tompkins) Also while searching for related articles online, I found numerous sites with multiple articles of disgust on the issue, multiple reports of upset anglers, and forums filled with questions asking â€Å"why†, the council made this act. (Gulf) Closing: I would like to say that the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council does a great deal to protect our waters and all that swims in it. We, as fisherman, appreciate every effort that the council puts forth in order to maintain and regulate the hobbies and lifestyles that make us who we are! Although we understand certain procedures and acts, this one, in particular, does not seem to advance any goals set forth by the council and the communities that it represents. This proposal aims to reconsider that previous acts set towards the red snapper fishery, or to reconcile the  change all together. As I do understand that this will take time to make these amendments I am willing to do my part and donate whatever necessary to make actions towards this. Thank you for your consideration of my proposal. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via cell phone at Works Cited Survey: . â€Å"Red Snapper Season 2014.† SurveyMonkey.com. June 18, 2014 In Text: (Tompkins) Interviews: â€Å"Boat Launch†. Greenough, C. Watson, James. Thompson, Paul. Personal interview. June 21, 2014 In Text: (Boat Launch) interview: â€Å"Red Snapper†. Gleeson, Dr. L. Personal Interview. June 24,2014 In Text: (Red Snapper) Website: â€Å"Gulf Recreational Red snapper season reduced to 9 days.† AL.COM. Web. May 14, 2014. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/05/gulf_recreational_red_snapper.html In Text: (Gulf)

The Feudal System Exposed :: Men With Guns John Sayles Movies Essays

The Feudal System Exposed In his movie Men With Guns, John Sayles shows his viewer many participants in the feudal, agricultural system of an unnamed Latin American country. The peasants who work the land present, as are soldiers who terrorize the laborers, guerillas and others who try to escape it, and a priest who had been targeted by the military. Even people who are not directly involved in the feudal system are portrayed in Sayles' film; the protagonist is a city doctor who had no idea what life was like in the rural areas. American tourists wander Sayles' countryside, ignorant of the horror that is taking place literally all around them. One group of active participants in any feudal system are conspicuously absent from Sayles' screen; while the plantation owners are mentioned, they are never physically present on the rural landscape. That they are absent, at least in Sayle's film, but always seemingly in control is significant and is important in one's understanding of how feudal systems are reproduced . The viewer does come face-to-face with a feudal lord, or one at least connected to plantation owners, but he is at a nice restaurant in the city not on the fields in the country. Over the course of the meal he tells Umberto, the doctor, that Umberto knows nothing about the Indians and that people from the city should not try to help the Indians in any way. "The more you do for them," the plantation owner warns, "the lazier they get." The only other image of the peasants comes from a military general who describes the Indians in need of protection from guerrillas. Because the only contact that city people have with the plantation system is through the point of view of plantation owners, they have little idea about the Indians' lives and how they are treated by feudal lords; without accurate information, people from the outside have little interest in changing the feudal system. After Umberto leaves the city for the country, he loses contact with feudal lords. Instead, he has to deal with the violent reality of the feudal system in the rural areas. In the country, where people work and live on plantations, plantation owners are absent. What is ever present is a military bent on terrorizing laborers. As Umberto's travelling companion, a former soldier, tells Umberto, the army exists for the plantation owners, feudal lords, who depend on force and violence to coerce peasants to work.

Socrates: Guilty or Not

Socrates is one of the founders of Western philosophy. The dialogues, written by many of his students, such as Plato, represent a unique way of questioning how we should live our lives, and who do we aspire to become. He was a very intelligent man who was very concerned about ethics, being a good Athenian, and doing what is just. In Plato’s Apology the reader experiences all of Socrates characteristics as if they where sitting right there with all the other five hundred men representing the jury. Socrates is trying to persuade the jury by defending himself against accusations made by fellow Athenian, Meletus. He accuses Socrates of corrupting the youth and of not believing in the gods the city of Athens believes in (Apology, 24 b-c).Socrates, not being familiar with courts, attempts at defending himself stating that is most likely to engage in a defense not using the language of lawyers, but in the way he is used to speak to the public. Even though Socrates was found guilty in the court of law, hence being sentenced to death, he still persuaded one of the jury men that was not present that day in to believing he was not guilty. I believe that Socrates defended himself more than well against his accusations, and the lack of evidence presented by his accusers gives more than enough reason that he was indeed not guilty. But there are two things I do not agree with Socrates: One being that he says he is not a wise man, and the other being that if someone does wrong to another person unwillingly, is a good enough reason for the wrongdoer to not have repercussions for his acts.It is Important to see that during the entire defense Socrates is attacking his accusers, mainly Meletus and he shows this right away when he goes through the first accusation of supposedly corrupting the youth. He says that most of the kids that follow him around are kids of very rich parents who just enjoy hearing people being questioned. Socrates states that every time his accusers ar e asked what he does and what is he teaching that corrupts the young, they have no answer for the question, and that most of the men are just angry because he questioned them on their supposed more than human wisdom (Apology, 23c-d).The great Socrates was known for going to every man who said was wise and ridiculing them in front of other spectators, in which he made a lot of enemies. It is very important to state that Socrates has been accused before; actually he has been receiving accusations since he was very young. Socrates says that he has two types of accusers: the earlier ones, and the recent ones, which he says listened to what the older accusers said about him making it easier to create a disliking for him. For me this is a very important point, because it is just another reason to believe that the accusations made are just repressed anger and disliking for a man who does not believe in committing any wrongdoing.Socrates continues his defense attacking Meletus and asking hi m who is allowed to improve and educate the youth, and he answers that everyone including the jurymen, the audience, the members of the council, the assembly, all Athenians except for Socrates himself (Apology, 24e-25a). This leads him to conclude that Meletus, using an analogy of horses and horse breeders, does not really care about the youth, because he believes that only one man in Athens can corrupt the youth while he goes on thinking that every other Athenian is educating and improving them (Apology, 25b-c). Socrates once again questions Meletus evidence.In another excerpt of the Apology, Socrates says how can so many people enjoy being around him and listening him questioning others. He then invites all of the supposedly men he has corrupted to stand up as witnesses, but he only finds all of the people that love him and follow him in the audience (Apology, 33c-34b). As you go through the first defense it just keeps on demonstrating the lack of evidence by the part of the accus ers, who could not even bring a single person to the stand that has been corrupted. This leads us to Socrates second part of the defense. In the affidavit it says that Socrates is charged for not believing in the cities gods, but when Meletus is questioned he says: â€Å"This is what I mean, that you do not believe in gods at all† (Apology, 26c).This completely changes is early accusation, and it certainly makes it clear that he is contradicting himself. Socrates continues to question Meletus about believing in spirits. Meletus answers a question that made by Socrates, in which he asked, â€Å"Do we not believe spirits to be either gods or the children of gods†, Meletus answers â€Å"Of course†(Apology, 27c-d). This leads me to my second point; does Socrates really believe in any supernatural being? I believe that he actually does.One small observation I made was that he mentions the god Zeus more than once during the trial (Apology, 17c, 25c, 35d). But more imp ortantly he talks about A* god who has put him in earth to do the work he does, to be a philosopher, to question what others do not dare. He states that they are treating a gift from god unjustly (Apology 30e-31b). He really persuaded me when he talked about a â€Å"divine or spiritual sign† that speaks to him when he needs to be turned away from something (Apology, 31d).Some jurymen would say he is just talking about this to get away with not being sentenced to death, but I say to those people why would a man who clearly says he does not fear death will lie in the court of law, which he has respected his entire life, because that is how he was brought up. But even if I agree with Socrates defense, there are two things I do not agree with. The first is that he says he is not a wise man, which I find to be completely absurd. In a sense I see it as his way for people taking him for a humble man.Early in the trial he expresses how he visited all the men who said they were wise, but he never says he questioned who said they were not wise. For Socrates being wise is someone who has knowledge and the more arrogant you are about knowing something the less of a wise man you are. To make my point Socrates never thinks of himself as a wise man, so by using his own explanation of a wise person makes him a wise man if not the wisest in Athens. (Santi remember that he believed that you truly do not understand anything until you understand yourself and your own beliefs. Socrates at least knows this truth about himself.)The second argument I do not agree with Socrates that if someone does something wrong unwillingly is exempt from being accused or even punished from his acts. I do believe in doing what is just, and I do believe Socrates was prosecuted unjustly. But just because you do wrong unwillingly does not give the state to let you go freely. Take this for example you are in a bar and you are carrying a weapon with you, for precaution measures. The gun accidental ly goes of and you injure a person. This would go under unwillingly causing harm to another person, but it does not mean that you should not receive any punishment for acting carelessly while carrying a fire weapon. I arrived at the conclusion that Socrates was never to be punished in any sort of way.The main reason is because the accusations were vague and were not backed up by any type of evidence. These accusers were blinded by a hatred that was born when they were young and  continued to build up when they see the man named Socrates walking through the streets of Athens questioning everything. The city of Athens and the people who lived there were taught everything they know and believe, and those things were never to be questioned because that is what they were taught. Then came Socrates, a wise man, and questioned everything, but I do not believe he ever intended, and surely did not, to corrupt the youth. I strongly believe that he was helping every single human being he spo ke to.Socrates was teaching the people of Athens to question things, to be curious and question everything, and that is the basis of philosophy: to question. One could say that Socrates prophecy was fulfilled his conviction will be shameful for Athens because there will be others to take his place. By reading the Apology I felt a one more jurymen, and I definitely found this man to not be guilty on any of the charges.

Compare Contrast Gilgamesh and Beowulf - 1426 Words

Comparison and Contrast Essay Final Draft: Gilgamesh vs. Beowulf The epics of Beowulf and Gilgamesh are about a pair of heroes who had many common characteristics as well as characteristics that contradict one another. Beowulf is a Christian epic that roots from the Anglo Saxon culture. Throughout the plot, there are numerous biblical allusions. â€Å"Grendel who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in a hell not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair of monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God,† (from Beowulf part one, translated by Burton Raffel pg. 21, lines 17-21) Gilgamesh is a story from the Mesopotamian culture, which is now present day Iraq. As Beowulf, Gilgamesh also has†¦show more content†¦Beowulf has numerous battles. He fights with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon. Going into these fights, Beowulf already had God’s favor, because Grendel and his mother were descendants of Cain, and they were from hell. â€Å"Hail to those who will ris e to God, drop off their dead bodies, and seek our Father’s peace.† (from Beowulf part one, translated by Burton Raffel pg 23 lines 101-103). Although Gilgamesh is favored by many gods and Beowulf is favored by one god, it is this favor that makes them both heroes. In contrast, Beowulf and Gilgamesh had different endings to their lives. Beowulf died after his battle with the dragon. â€Å"That final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate had denied him glory in battle.† (from Beowulf Part two translated by Seamus Heaney pg 45 lines 723-725) Gilgamesh’s life went a bit different. He eventually died, but in the story, he went on a journey to find the secret to everlasting life. Seven days and nights I sat beside the body, weeping for Enkidu beside the body, and then I saw a worm fall out of his nose. Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that? It was then I felt the fear of it in my belly. I roam the wilderness because of the fear.Enkidu, the companion, whom I loved, is dirt, nothing but clay is Enkidu.Weeping as if I were a woman I roam the paths andShow MoreRelatedMonsters And The Core Program1826 Words   |  8 Pages Monsters and Villains in the Core Program Monsters and villains have been a very crucial part in Core 3 and Core 4. We have read some of the most well none villains in Core including Humbaba from Gilgamesh, Polyphemus from The Odyssey, Grendel from Beowulf, and Iago from Othello. Teratology is the study of monsters and throughout Core we have learned some of the characteristics that are monsters have in common. Mostly all the monsters that we have studied reveals society’s fears or somethingRead MoreWhy Forrest Gump Is Very Much An Epic1584 Words   |  7 Pagesaesthetics compares with the different depictions of the typical epic hero. Gilgamesh embarks on the typical hero quest in which the hero is taken a great distance from his family and home in order to overcome overwhelming obstacles. Essentially, Gilgamesh and Forrest Gump are comparable in their great travels far from his the proverbial homeland to a bizarre place or places to battle tremendous evils, having their dearest friends ripped away, and in some cases playing Ping-Pong. Beowulf illustratesRead MoreSituational Analysis: 7th Grade Language Arts6569 Words   |  26 Pagesinteract? To explain rituals, customs, and beliefs. To explain historical events. To teach moral lessons. Tales of the hero and the heroic quest occur in nearly every world culture. If we look closely at the hero tales from all over the world and compare them, we find what the American mythologist Joseph Campbell called the mono-myth - literally, the one story. This mono-myth, or archetypal heroic quest story, has remarkably the same structure from culture to culture, but is really the same hero