[ppark728]

Hi everyone. My name is Peter Park, and this is my first-ever post here on the Discussion Board. I wanted your thoughts on something. I recently volunteered to give a talk on fish biology at Fisherman Depot. I wanted your thoughts on the demand for talks such as this.

This Sunday, I am going to use this chance that the store owner gave me to share facts about our fish that wouldn?t normally be found on a fishing TV show or expo. I am no expert. In fact, I am still a student. I'm just a kid nutty over fish, and one who has been lucky enough to have the opportunity to study them as a student. With what I've learned, through this talk, I hope to touch on questions we all have once pondered while fishing ever since childhood: Where did fish come from? How many species of fish are alive today? Why are they so diverse? What key adaptations made fish so intriguing to us? What characteristics define the subset of fishes that we call ?gamefish?? How has NYC become such a hotspot for fish diversity? Why is NYC such a special place for fishermen? How has the fishery changed in recent years? And, what of conservation?

If this talk goes well, I would like other talks to be given at the store by true experts in their respective fish-related (but non-fishing) fields--> taxidermists, aquarists, scientists, and DEC. My dream is to network all the fish -lovers. Kinda far fetched, I know, but I always got nervous seeing fish enthusiasts arguing, be it about regulations or theories on their existence. So, what's the verdict? Do you think the fishing community would be interested in talks about fish biology, fish keeping, fish painting, etc etc?

I've also tried starting a mini-museum at his shop with the help of master taxidermists, just to get the ball rolling. We're hoping to turn this into our "conference" room for these future non-fishing fish talks, if this one on Sunday goes well. (Fingers crossed.) I attached a promo-photo below.

Also, if you know of anyone who is a unbeliever in the beauty of our fish and the sport of fishing, please let them know about my talk on Sunday (Feb, 24) at 6pm. I'll do my best to turn them into a believer!

Thanks guys.


This post edited by ppark728 01:06 AM 02/19/2008

 

[ppark728]

follow-up

hmm... I guess the lack of responses answers my inquiries. oh well.

In any case, for the few of you that expressed interest, I just wanted to let you know that the talk was a success. We had about 15 teenagers and as many adults (surprisingly, very few were parents of the teens in attendance). The room's capacity was really only fit for 20, so some had to stand the whole time.

The owner was generous to donate several lures and three fishing rods. The lures were given out during the talk and the rods were given out as free raffle prizes.

In addition to all my biology blabbing, a friend of mine shared his memories of more than 40 years of fishing in NYC- how the fishery has changed, what was done to protect certain species (striped bass), some stories less successful (winter flounder), etc. The kids got to see a glimpse into what was around before they were even a twinkle in their parents' eyes.

Before the talk, several of the younger folks told me that they never had been fishing before. After the talk, they each came up to me and said they wanted to give it a shot (i.e., "When you gonna take me fishing?" haha).

The smiles on their faces made all the effort worth it.

Some pics.

 

[CHEVY1]

PPARK

Good job

Looks like your seminar was a big success. Even though you had no response from here, you sould be proud of doing that and helping expand the young minds of your audience