1.5.2009 classroom reflection

[Sean Nash]

Post your reflections from tonight's class here. These should be done ASAP and is due the Sunday night following class.

Protecting Ocean Resources From Missouri

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: marine biology ecology)

Describe major "aha's" from our discussion, outline ways in which your prior assumptions changed as a result of our talk, summarize the main points of our lesson, etc. What surprised you? How did this presentation/discussion make you feel? This session really was designed to be a call to action of sorts. Did it accomplish that for you?

Three big things things to remember for next session:
-tonight's reflection is due before midnight on sunday, january 4th
-kick around ideas for social action. what might you like to do? what do you think will work??
-quiz in two parts: 1. seafood resources 2. coral reef fish ID

[Nick Straton]

I never realized the effects of farming fish could be so great. I will approach eating seafood a whole different way now. Farmed salmon just seems disgusting but I never did really pay attention to whether my seafood was farmed or not as long as it was what I thought it was. Most farming had a lof of negative effects but it worked for some creatures which is nice to see. When longlining was brought up I knew exactly what you were talking about because me and my dad used to fish like that a lot in the Missouri river for flathead catfish. I don't remember any creatures being bycaught in our lines though so there was no harm done but in the vastness of the ocean you showed us many problems I didn't think of, one major one being endangered species. Bycatching is something I never thought about but I knew was happening, it reminds me of old cartoons where people always catch a boot instead of a fish. This session really did present the cause of social action and what we have to do now to present this problem to the public.

[Chris Puett]

I found last class to be very interesting and i like the idea of the graded fish level for good and bad, according to the fish community. Not much i find would really apply to me personally because i dont like seafood so i dont eat fish, but for the people out there that do, should know that humans are damageing fish populations just because they are worried about their sales and the money they'll get. Especially knowing how disgusting farmed fish are from this point of view, i never want to try it. I did think of a question that i never brought up. Is there a price difference between farmed fish and wild fish? Or do they tend to be about the same? It was running through my head in class, but i felt that it was a dumb question and a little random so i didnt say anything. The deal with the swordfish and how the smaller undeveloped fish are being caught, also grabbed by attention. So many chances of another animal entering the world to live its life and carry on its genes are demolished, because fisherman are taking their life at a stage too early for the fish to develop and have babies. I also never realized how much bycatching occurs, and how harmful it is on the environment. Many people dont realize that we are destroying habitats and populations of fish, and it happens pretty much right before our eyes...

[Dillon Brewer]

Last class was very informative; I didn’t know so much damage went into fishing. Long lining is such a destructive way of fishing, and all by catch that goes along with long lining. I also never knew there was something called fish farming. Keeping a lot fish in a confined area isn’t good just for the fish but also for the environment. Like mr.nash said all those fish are going to be pooping in that area, and all that ammonia is getting out. What is happening to the blue fin tuna is horrible, we saw how big it use to be in that black and white picture but today there aren’t that many that can get that big. In the packet Mr.nash gave us, there is this article called “blue fin tuna losing battle for survival”. It says that blue fin tuna is being fish out so much that it might be upsetting natural food chains, some say that are irreversible. I like this project that we are about to begin, letting people know which fish they should eat. I would like to a letter to and mass emailing it to a lot of people or go into red lobster and doing a video. I mean a video sounds a lot more informative.

[Lacie Thompson]

I'm not exactly the biggest seafood fan in the whole world, but I definitely found this class section very interesting. It really amazed me at how people will go out in the world and do for money. It kind of shows how greedy people are. Here they go line fishing and bycatching and they go and kill other animals just so they can get what they want. Sounds kind of "shellfish." It also amazed me how these organizations went and took the time and made up these brocheres and the scale for the fish. They definitley must care a lot about this topic and I would like to learn more and see how I can help! I also learned the difference between wild and farmed salmon, I never knew that. I really benefited from this class as a whole, and when I do get the guts to eat seafood I will look at it a whole new way. I migh even pull out my chart and look up the fish I am going to eat and see if it is in anyway at risk.

[Sean Nash]

"I might even pull out my chart and look up the fish I am going to eat and see if it is in anyway at risk."

What about pulling it out first... and then making a choice as to whether or not to order? ;-)

Also- be careful of saying "line fishing." Generally speaking... "longlining" is an unfriendly environmental practice. However, "line" fishing... as in "rod & reel".. one line... is much less damaging overall.

[Korby Trautman]

Last class was a big eye opener for me. I'm a big seafood eater. When we go to the beach, no matter which coast, i always choose sea food restaurants to eat at. I never really thought of where the food i was eating came from, just the way it was cooked. It made me wonder how many restaurants buy fish that is unhealthy for both the environment and humans, and still sell it; guess ill stay away from Long John Silvers because they have no idea where the fish came from, or if it's even fish, haha. Im pumped for this project, though. Its fun to be able to bring the ocean here to ole saint joe. No one here really understands the oceans from here in town, and we need to show them now as the world is becoming more and more global interdependent. It is necessary that everyone should know about almost every different terrain, because almost every product you buy in todays market comes from different areas of this nation as well as the whole world.

[Torin McKinley]

i love to fish. crappi, catfish, bass, walleye you know the Missouri kind of fish.(lol) i never cared for much other then that cause thats what i ate and caught. i never cared about much other types of fish and deffinently not ones live in the ocean because there was no need to. I think last class made me realize that i do need to care about them because other people depend on them. I cant stop thinking about the braid. I hate it! (jk) it makes me care. it makes me realize things that were never important before actually matter to my life more then i ever cared to imagin. last class had alot to do with how the fish we eat affect the environment. We kinda went through that chart and pointed out the reasons why some fish are worse to eat then others. that slide show really made me care.(i keep useing care...) so if these fish matter to the environment and the environment matters to me, well then i guess the environment matters to everyone thuse those fish matter to everyone.

I want to make a little had out that gives a little overview about how other cultures interact with the types of fish we talked about. but i want people in missouri and or america to read it and make thier own decission about how they consume the fish on that list and maybe with a little guidance from that chart people will make out their own eco-friendly fish choices.

[Brett Baltezor]

It's nice to learn about things that effect our life's. I had no clue wild salmon was better for you than farmed. I had no clue what long-lining. This project we are about to dive in on seems interesting. I like it because its different. This project has a lot of room for freedom and creativity which will make everybody want to do it, be passionate about it, and do a good job.

[Terra Younger]

I missed last class period:... But from the short explanation I recieved from Nash I got that we have to inform people about different sea food that is bad to eat. I like seafood a lot! So I think learning about what's "good" and what's "bad" to eat would help my conscience and the fishies ~ I think I'll start carring my brochure in my purse when I intend on eating food of the sea, ya know do some good... Keep in mind it was extremely early in the morning when Nash explained all the happenings of the previous night, so I didn't get all of it... PROJECT?... I got some of that, hmmm, I'm sure I'll learn more about it in tonight's class. See y'all @ 7 :)