Florida Shrimp Industry Analysis Essay

What if it were logical and profitable to merge two of the fastest growing shrimp industries in the United States today? That is exactly the idea behind â€Å"bait shrimp production†, the latest development in the combined evolution of the valuable live bait shrimp industry and the continual growth arena of aquaculture. Farm-raised bait shrimp is a very appropriate combination of the two businesses; both have a historical development in Florida for over forty years. Florida has been proclaimed the â€Å"Fishing Capital of the World† with its 1,197 statute miles of coastline hosting 3.4 million anglers annually. The statistics regarding the recreational fishing industry in Florida are astounding. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reports: †¢The economic value of recreational fishing to Florida is $7.0 billion and supports 75,000 jobs. †¢Recreational fishing is the second largest sports industry in Florida with over 700 world-record fish caught. Live bait shrimp is the nucleus around which evolves Florida’s saltwater sport and recreational fishing. It is the preferred bait for fishing near shore species such as snook, sea trout, redfish, snapper, cobia and mackerel. The business of catching and supplying live bait shrimp began with a few individuals supplying themselves, and a few bait shops in the 1950’s to becoming a multi-million dollar industry with exports throughout the Southeast United States. This growth is a testimony to the pre-eminence of shrimp as the most popular live bait among saltwater anglers in Southeast United States. The message is clear — the recreational/sport fishing industry and live bait shrimp are well established in Florida. And their popularity is growing amongst the14 million people (75% living within 10 miles of the coast) and the 40 million tourists who visit each year. Commercial fishermen currently supplying 100% of the bait shrimp market experiences regulatory restrictions, seasonal declines in wild stocks, and unreliable labor causing unpredictable shortages and as such are unable to meet the increase in the market demands. The FWC and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer service reports: †¢As the tourist and recreational fishing industry continues to increase in Florida so will the bait shrimp business. †¢Fishermen love to use live bait shrimp and retailers are always running out of bait before they run out of customers. †¢The retailer wants consistent deliveries of bait shrimp in numbers that will keep the customers walking through the door of their shop †¢Although the fishing effort has increased 50% over the past ten years, the live bait harvesters cannot meet the market demands. This increase in demand without an increase in supplies has resulted in an extremely high dollar value of live bait. This increase in demand, low supply and high dollar value has attracted the attention of shrimp producers. Now for the other half of the combination — shrimp aquaculture. As the demand for live bait shrimp has expanded without an increase in supplies, the inevitable has begun to take place — culturing Florida’s endemic penaeids for bait size shrimp using hatchery and production technologies developed for other economically important penaeids. Wholesale distributors cannot get adequate supply of bait shrimp certain times; retailers are forced to accept inaccurate counts and variable sizes of wild bait, which they will loose almost 30% in mortalities during the course of the day. Retailers cannot consistently provide the customer with the desired size and often sell â€Å"mixes†. Fishermen are reliant on the seasonal migration, molting periods and life cycles of the natural population; as such they cannot guarantee quality or volume. Shrimp spawn in April/May releasing eggs that move with the tides and currents into estuaries, where they spend their postlarval and juvenile stages before migrating back to deeper waters. Bait size shrimp are virtually impossible to harvest in June, July, and August due to this natural life cycle; and are in short supply September through December. It is the winter months January through April that suppliers, wholesalers and retailers can experience marketable size bait shrimp. However, even during this time period, harvesting of small animals causes immediate stress and holding them in â€Å"live† haul tanks for long distance deliveries results in high mortalities. Enter the growth industry, Aquaculture, dedicated to providing consumers what they need – healthy, quality seafood and aquatic products at market prices. The inability of the fishermen to provide year round live bait shrimp, there is a significant gap supplies. From this lack of product will grow the combination of live bait shrimp and aquaculture— Live Bait, Inc. Live Bait, Inc. will produce bait shrimp is at high densities in enclosed facilities equipped with multi-phase, recirculating systems. Bait size shrimp will be cultured to three variable sizes, (8,10, and 12 grams) to provide the retailer with desired â€Å"mixes†. Bait shrimp production facilities, unlike shrimp boats, can be located through out Florida in high value areas that support a large volume of recreational fishing and tourism. Live Bait, Inc. will focus on providing existing market channels with high quality bait at market prices, in a consistent and reliable manner through out the year. The first bait shrimp production facility is said to have been an offshoot of a Texas A&M project developing production systems for Gulf of Mexico endemic shrimp. The species of choice for this area are brown shrimp (F. aztecus) and it is believed that the company, although small scale, Lone Star Fishery, is experiencing continued success. There is a tremendous interest amongst fishermen and wholesale dealers in developing culture systems for bait shrimp. However, once they realize the capital investment and risk involved, they become interested in buying from Live Bait, Inc. The market for live bait shrimp is continuing to grow, especially during the summer when local residents and tourists target inshore species. This year-round demand, unreliable supplies and high dollar value ensures a continued market for this commodity. Industry Participants There are several groups of industry participants, which must come together in order for Live Bait, Inc. to function well. 1.Wholesale Dealers. Everything begins and ends with this customer. Wholesale distributors have established marketing channels and will be buying directly from the production centers. Each production center must first identify the base of the wholesaler from which the high volume, high value business will be drawn. Their attitudes, needs and abilities must be the genesis of each decision in designing the size and location of production facilities. 2.The Nuclear Breeding Center. For long-term sustainable production and the Florida Department of Aquaculture’s support and sanctions; it is imperative that a breeding program for F. duorarum be established from the beginning. Experience has proven the necessity of SPF stocks in minimizing the incidents of diseases and animal stress from high density, mass production. 3.. For Live Bait, Inc to produce, cost-effective, quality bait shrimp it needs outstanding seedstock. Large numbers of seedstock at affordable prices will needed, on a weekly basis in order to maintain the sequential stocking required by multi-phase systems. 4.Management/Production Team. This is the triangulation point where it all comes together. The team must identify the best locations; design the most cost effective facilities and production systems, produce shrimp using state-of-the-science technologies to provide high quality bait shrimp available for daily pickup. Who are the individuals or groups that are likely customers of farm raised live bait shrimp? Fortunately, there are some marketing surveys that have been conducted Florida state agencies, the US Department of Commerce and Mariculture, Inc. that can provide some answers even in this new concept. The target market for Live Bait, Inc. is the wholesale dealer/distributor, who currently is supplied 100% by the bait shrimp fishery. Currently, wholesale dealers either buy dockside from shrimpers and/or they use their own boats. As such they are located within close proximities of bait shrimping boats and not necessarily in the high value tourist areas. Each GLB’s locations will develop its facility, production numbers, sizes and services around the target audience –wholesalers. GLB will target several distinct groups: 1.Wholesalers, which fit the basic demographic characteristics of supplying retailers from great distances. These will be wholesalers who either buy dockside from shrimpers and/or they use their own boats. As such they are located within close proximities of bait shrimping boats, which are in five major regions: Hernando (Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Manatee) with 47% of total bait shrimp landings; Pine Island (Lee County) with 33% of total bait shrimp landings, Biscayne Bay (Dade and Monroe Counties) with 18% of total bait shrimp landings and Jacksonville (Fernandina Beach) with 2% total bait shrimp landings. Wholesalers will truck live bait shrimp 220 miles from Homosassa to Naples or from Miami, which is 107 miles. Wholesalers from these regions supplying the North-Central East Coast, the Keys and Panhandle will be targeted. 2.Wholesalers who supply retailers dealing in large volumes. For example marinas that sell 275,000 – 300,000 or more bait per day during the winter months and 65,000 – 80,000 per day during the summer months. Volume in these areas severely restricted due short supplies and distance from suppliers. Retailers claim they could sell up to 300% more, if the supply were available. Wholesalers supplying large marinas, high-end fishing piers located in metropolitan areas, and retail bait/tackle stores that promote popular sport fishing tournaments will be targeted. 3.Wholesalers who supply high dollar bait to retailers located in areas support high value recreational/sport fishing and tourism. Wholesale prices for live bait vary considerably with location. For example prices in Pine Island will run $30/1,000 shrimp while in Marco Island and Naples, which is just south of Pine Island, will have prices up to $70/1,000. Wholesalers who supply retailers who are willing to pay the higher market price will be targeted. 4. Wholesalers who are receptive of farm-raised bait and will promote the product among retailers. Currently, an overwhelming majority of retailers accept the idea of farm-raised bait. Most are willing to pay between 50-100% above current prices for farm raised bait as long as the supply is consistent and reliable. Wholesalers who are willing to promote our product, pay premium prices for premium farm raised bait shrimp will be targeted. 5.Wholesalers who are either currently exporting to neighboring states, or who would like to export to other states. Florida Bait shrimp wholesalers export live bait nine months out of the year to different neighboring states. Currently they supply 60% of the Alabama Market, 20% of the South Carolina and 50% of the Georgia market. Wholesalers exporting to other states will be targeted. 6.Bait Brokers dealing in frozen bait are currently importing small frozen shrimp that are severely damaged from outside the United States. The shrimp exotic species, which may or may not be infected with viral diseases. These brokers currently cannot meet the needs of their large contracts such as those with Wal-Mart and Publix. Process them, as most of the brokers also have processing plants. 7.Wholesalers who are supplying retailers whose customers would prefer farm raised bait over wild bait for ecological and environmental reasons. These six primary target groups provide fertile ground for GLB to become a profitable operation within the first year of production. In fact, GLB will become the top producer of farm-raised bait for Florida and the entire southeast coastal corridors. Live Bait, Inc. production centers will be established in key locations through out Florida. The marinas, retail bait shops, bait and tackle shops within a thirty-mile radius will match the demographic target profile – high volume, high market price, pro-farm raised bait, easy assess to interstate highways and are being supplied by wholesalers from great distances. A marketing survey conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service’s, Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing has documented annual landings (harvests), volumes of bait sold by retailers, wholesale/retail prices, peak seasonal demands and months of supply shortages. Major harvesting areas are divided Hernando Regions (Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Manatee) with 47% of total bait shrimp landings; Pine Island (Lee County) with 33% of total bait shrimp landings, Biscayne Bay (Dade and Monroe Counties) with 18% of total bait shrimp landings and Jacksonville (Fernandina Beach) with 2% total bait shrimp landings. Annual Landings report to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by licensed bait shrimpers in 2000 was 2.46 million pounds (246 million bait size shrimp using a 100/1b count). This is 50% above the reported landings for 1991 of 1.23 million pounds 123 million bait size shrimp using a 100/lb count). Fishery managers feel the harvest numbers are under-reported on trip tickets. And since live bait shrimp is a cash industry sales are not accurately reported. Also not all shrimp caught as live bait is sold as live bait, there are high mortality rates associated with harvesting, holding and transporting. Larger shrimp will often be culled and sold as food. It is likely that the farm production needed to supply current markets will have to be 50% above reported landings to approximately 3.69 million pounds (369 million bait size shrimp using a 100/lb count).

The Story Cinderella Through a Marxist’s Eye

In a Marxist view, a capitalistic society equates economic status to social status. The story of Cinderella by Charles Perrault highlights a number of these views. Cinderella’s stepfamily longingly desired to keep their social standing. They are willing to but Cinderella into poverty by making her their slave. By doing so, they ensure their social and economic standing. The prince has a similar need to keep his high-class standing but requires a bride to maintain these necessities. The prince reaches his goal by marrying Cinderella to create a possible heir to his throne. Cinderella’s stepfamily and the prince sustain their economic power by upholding their social status. In a capitalistic society, there is a dependency on having a lower class in order to maintain the higher class. Since Cinderella’s stepfamily has a lot of money and she has nothing, they maintain their economic status by demoting her to slavery. In the beginning of the fairy tale after her mother dies, her father remarries to maintain his economic status. Cinderella is unfortunate when soon after his death she is plunged into poverty. Throughout the story, her stepfamily continues to live in luxury while keeping Cinderella in squalor. While her stepsisters slept in expensive beds and were dressed in lavish fashions, Cinderella had to sleep in a bed made of straw and wear old dirty rags. The stepmother requires Cinderella to be kept in poverty in order to maintain their economic and social status. Cinderella will never have the chance to rise to the higher class since she does not earn any money. Unless someone existing in the higher class takes her out of her poverty, she will continue to exist within the lower class. In this time period, people were defined within society by how much money they acquired. The prince’s social standing of being in the ruling class is also dependent on economic wealth. In order for his family to stay in power he needs to have an heir to the throne. He hosts an extravagant ball at his castle to find a suitable bride and all the ladies in the town were invited to attend. Cinderella wanted eagerly to go the ball, but knew she was not wealthy enough to look the part. Cinderella is fortunate enough to have help from a supernatural force, called her fairy godmother, to transform her into appearing like she was from the high-class society. Her beauty was so intriguing that the prince fell in love the moment he looked at her. Once he finds Cinderella from the help of his servants, she is pulled out of slavery and into the ruling class. The prince enables his family to maintain their economic and social status by marrying Cinderella. He now will have an heir to the throne and his family will be preserved in the royal society. The struggle between the higher and lower classes of society is prominent within Marxism. Charles Perrault highlights this ideology in the fairytale of Cinderella. Cinderella’s stepfamily wants to keep their maintain their economic and social standing. They make Cinderella their slave and instantly plunge her into poverty. Their economic standing is ensured as soon as she is put the lower class. The prince similarly keeps his social standing when he finds a bride. The prince and Cinderella get married therefore maintain his economic and social status and ultimately creating a possible heir to his throne. In the story Cinderella economic status is ensured through differences in social statuses. Marxist views uphold this society and therefore capitalism is sustained.

Consumer behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Consumer behaviour - Essay Example n household organisation, handful rare articles on extraordinary behaviour such as children’s sweet, vegetarianism and health food buying, and important, mainly overlooked, historical evaluation of the changes in food habits in the UK and France (Wiessner & Schiefenhovel 1996). Historical documentations of food provision have a tendency to put emphasis on either the general levels of consumption in a particular society, on issues of extreme poverty and starvation, or on specific food provisions, such as sugar. Merely a handful of the common books on the food habits of the British people focus on the commercial condition of meals. Fast foods, restaurants and espresso bars are mentioned very occasionally in the directories of such writings. For instance, Burnett (1989) provides an inclusive synopsis of transforming behaviour in the UK ever since the momentous Industrial Revolution, explaining how disparities in class and ethnic backgrounds affected forms of diet and general norms of nutrition, and though there are informative and helpful concise sections on altering trends of eating out, merely an insignificant fraction of a sizeable book is dedicated to meals taken outside of the home (as cited in Fine et al. 1996: 82). General historical narratives of food habits and consumption in the United States have had used more mentions of the practice and, since the practice or habit of buying and consuming food on commercial vicinities is more traditionally established, the United States is better provided with literatures of both its historical and geographical distribution. Yet, literature remains inadequate. Therefore, this paper will explore and analyse available literature on food habits and food consumption behaviour of individuals in the various parts of the world, but particularly in the Western region, through the application of various theories of consumption. Outlooks of the West towards consumption have consistently been divided. On the one hand,

Gender equality, Islamic Law and the Modern Muslim state Essay

Gender equality, Islamic Law and the Modern Muslim state - Essay Example The issue of gender equality in Islam was not a central notion nor was it addressed until the 20th century by Muslim jurists. The status of Men and Women in Islam is continuously explained by the Muslim scholars in the light of teachings of Islam and Holy Quran. The Islamic laws negated the modern authoritative position attributed to men in modern states and gave equal rights to the women. Although Islam has given equal rights to women, the misinterpretation of its laws and principles has exposed the religion as a typecast. Islam permits women to hold any office outside her home as long as that post is not derogatory to the feminine nature. The only condition which Islam presses on the women is that their working outside their homes should not be a source of embarrassment for them and their families and must not harm their reputation as a woman and a human being. It also impresses on the women to strike a balance between their jobs outside their homes and their duties as a mother or a wife. The teachings of Islam also do not forbid Muslim women to interact with the opposite gender in public as per the requirement of their jobs . However, the gender gap index of the world in 2009 shows that most Muslim countries have performed below the global average and are not showing any signs of improvements in the previous years. Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and Bahrain however, remain an exception to this. Yemen was rated at the bottom of the 134 nations graded for gender score index in 2009 . Additionally, it has been reported continuously that most of the Muslim women are denied basic human rights, ranging from permission of a guardian for marriage to abeyance of husband in all fields of life. Most of the people also blame Islam for the frequent incidents of Muslim men torturing women and providing them with below par living standards. According to experts on the subject, the true identity of Islam prevailed for a very brief period after its inception. Initially the Umayyads played havoc with the principles of Islam and then the Abbasids inflicted much of the damage to the concept of the religion. It did not end he re and the monarchs who ruled Iran continued to distort the religion by forcing their women to submit to the will of men. Another factor responsible for inequality of gender in Islam is colonialism. From 20th century onwards, colonialism has had a profound effect on the internal and external structure of the society. Through this concept, the already established norms and traditions were completely destroyed and novel foreign norms were imposed. It also exaggerated the existing gender divisions and labor roles of the two genders. Resultantly, the Islamic society completely collapsed with an environment of complete confusion. Men tried to find solace in rigid cultural customs e.g. forcing their women to cover themselves with veils and making them invisible in the eyes of the society. So much so that the princesses of once Mughul Empire were forced to indulge in prostitution. However, experts believe that understanding the complete scenario is essential before criticizing the principl es of another religion. The religious experts of Islam believe that Quran has given spiritual and moral equality to both men and women. This is clear from many verses in Quran clearly which spell out that men and women in Islam are in fact each other’s protectors and complement each other. There is a strong bond of respect between the two genders and

Video Gaming Addicition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Video Gaming Addicition - Research Paper Example Video game addiction usually begins with the child wanting to relax and enjoy in his life but as the game moves forward, the child becomes addicted to a point that games take over the majority of the time of the individual. Aim of the Research In this paper, we attempt to evaluate the term â€Å"video game addiction† and the issues related to this type of addiction. This will be done by going through the existing literature on video game addiction and coming up with a suitable means to deal with the issue in the light of the knowledge gained. Review of Literature For the review of literature, the following experts have been consulted. Griffith, in his book Gambling and gaming addictions in adolescence defines addiction as a condition whereby a person becomes so involved in an activity that it negatively impacts other arenas of his life including social, personal and academic life. In this light, video game addiction has been defined by Griffith as an addiction whereby an individual is a) compulsively involved; b) develops connections with other addicts; c) develops a lack of interest in other spheres of his life; and d) exhibits mental and physical symptoms when taken out of the gaming environment. According to Griffith, Video game addiction is a growing phenomenon around the world as gaming companies bring in more innovation and technology in their games. Also with the advent of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), there has been a substantial increase in video game addiction. ... The most pressing complaint of the parents of addicted children as found out by Griffith is that video games tend to seclude the children from their real life which includes their academic life and their social life. Griffith also believes that the cause of video game addiction is the personality of the gamer. Research has shown that certain individuals are more likely to become addicts as compared to the rest of the population. A control study developed by Griffith and managed on a group of video game addicts revealed that these gamers are highly intelligent and achievement-oriented; and this could be linked as a source for their addiction towards games. Games, both online and otherwise, fulfill the basic psychological needs of these gamers, such as their need for achievement, their room for relaxation and their freedom for daily anxieties and tensions. Griffith also goes on to state that there are certain individuals that become addicts because of the environment around them. We kn ow that people take on drugs when they wish to run away from the anxieties of their lives and in a similar way, video game addiction provides the same escape to such individuals. Griffith believes that when these individuals find it difficult to cope up with their problems, they seek solace in the virtual world of games where they can confront their enemies head on without any repercussions and without being afraid. Marko Skoric, from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Linda Ching Teo from Shriro Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore and Rachel Lijie Neo from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information are of the view that children within their academic lives, are unable to manage their home work and

Police as Crime-fighters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Police as Crime-fighters - Essay Example Absolute transparency in policing is a pipe dream and it might endanger the operational efficiency of the police. At the same time to leave, police activities totally unleashed can vitiate the very purpose of a police service. The task of combining the right degree of control over the police with sufficient elbowroom for them to achieve operational efficiency is a feat and a few countries have achieved this formidable task. The police performance, the world over, has not only failed to achieve this delicate balance, but has, in many countries, totally lost the focus of citizen centered service. The sense of security that the citizens in a country feel is an incalculable asset. However, this sense security in most countries has become a mirage. In many countries the guardians of civil security, themselves are often the ringleaders of an undesirable criminal nexus. This paper analyses the complex problem of analyzing the police activity in modern times. The study has accepted the compl exity of the problem and would like to offer an integrated approach to remedy the problem of policing relying on the strength of knowledge gained over the years. Various disciplines like Sociology, Psychology, Politics, Philosophy etc will aid in our search for a solution. However, the ultimate force in this attempt is the civil sense of the citizens of a country and their will to build a just society. The important question that lies at the core of developing any adequate measure of police performance is for citizens and their elected representatives to decide what it is that is intrinsically valuable, or what it is that we as a political community value in the activities and operations of a public police department. (Braga and Moore, 2004) The Historical Evolution of the Police Force The idea of modern police force has evolved over many years. However the basic mission of the primitive police and the modern are the same, the mission of keeping public order by enforcing the rules of civil conduct has not changed much in the conceptual level. Like so many noble gifts to the world, the idea of modern police force is a British product. The man behind the organizational set up of modern police force is Sir Robert Peel, the founder and leader of the Conservative party. However, the idea of policing the country is somewhat old. The Praetorian Guard of ancient Rome is the rudimentary form of the modern police. The Romans achieved a sophisticated system of law enforcement. This remained in force until the disintegration of the empire. With advent of Middle Ages and the manorial system, the policing job was the responsibility of the local nobles. The nobles appointed officials called the constables. They carried out the law. The constable's duties included arresting and keeping away forcefully the criminals. For a long time the constables were voluntary citizens, who were not paid anything. In the passage of time, this became burdensome. By the middle of 16th century, the rich citizens often sought the help of paid helpers. Soon this practice became widespread and the quality of policing by these constables came down. The French Monarch King Louis XIV kept a small police group consisting of forty inspectors who

The Higher Education Crisis by Nicholas Carr Article - 1

The Higher Education Crisis by Nicholas Carr - Article Example Carr is making the argument that the rise of the MOOC and its substantial international demand has opportunities for improving the quality of education for students around the world. Why is this? When the author compares the online courses available through paid tuition, he suggests that it has become a rather homogenous and boring model consisting of videotaped lectures, thus providing little innovation in the learning process. Hence, Carr describes several case studies in which reputable instructors, such as Sebastian Thrun, a robotics teacher from Stanford, are launching free online courses to expand higher education to the less advantaged. While it was expected that a free artificial intelligence class online would receive interest from, potentially, 10,000 students, in reality, the class received over 160,000 interested learners. This massive interest from adult learners prompted Thrun to partner with two other robotics experts to launch a new start-up online learning company, U dacity, in order to attempt to revamp the online educational process and improve its quality. As Carr attempted to illustrate that educational quality had been depleted in recent years, the concept of inspired start-up learning centers allows innovative educators to create new online learning models that are aligned with unique concepts and instructional materials. Laura Pappano of the New York Times describes some of the business model of Udacity, the online company started by Thrun where selecting the appropriate instructors involves a very discriminating set of criteria. Offered a representative of Udacity, â€Å"We reject about 98 percent of faculty who want to teach with us† (Pappano 4). This tends to support Carr’s notion in â€Å"The Crisis in Higher Education† as the MOOC concept seems to break the restrictions associated with university and college bureaucracy and liberates instructors from using a standardized online teaching curriculum and, instead, d eveloping more relevant and pioneering instructional tools and lessons for the MOOC teaching model. The concept of Udacity is that even though instructors might be renowned in their field, they are not always the best educators to provide a quality educational experience. With a more stringent set of criteria for hiring educators in the MOOC, this new concept in learning (enhanced with no-fee learning) could significantly outperform traditional campus-based learning and the for-fee online class experience.  Ã‚