f
i
s
h
y
My new tag.
My state has about 2,499,872 specialty tags. There's tags for education, astronaut memorials, manatees, panthers, college teams, NFL teams, whales, social causes, coral reefs, the Indian River lagoon, flat tires, soup spoons, and dry roasted peanuts. ( Well, there probably will be soon)
Our almost totally corrupt, lobbyist infested state legislature loves making these, because it makes some group happy at home (= votes).
That said, these tags are not a bad idea. There have been a few that bounced around in the separation of church/state area, but they were reworded in more generic ways or withdrawn.
The positive thing about them besides getting something besides our generic orange symbol (which looks like a peach) is that the extra money spent goes to the cause represented by your tag.
They finally made a specialty tag for me.
I love the sea, fish, and really love the idea of farming aquatic animals instead of market hunting, which is what commercial fisherfolk do.We banned the market hunting of land mammals and birds a hundred years ago. If people felt warm fuzzies for scaley, coldblooded fish the way they do for the furry and feathery clans, there would be no driftnets or trawls stripping the ocean of it's inhabitants.
Alas, we are highly biased in favor of our warmblooded cousins. Couple that with the fact that fish live in a separate earth, mostly unseen, and it's not hard to see why they are essentially out of sight...out of mind.
Okay, ...I was soapboxing. I really just wanted to show you my cool new tag. The extra money I paid for the tag instead of buying my wife a nice dinner out will go to support Harbor Branch Oceanographic aquaculture research. Of course the actual tag has letters and numbers not black blotches. That was just for a little privacy.
...I'm still not sure if any of you are internet stalker ax murderers who hate fish.
Did they actually make it at your specific request? I don't suppose Trooper Smith is going to like seeing your tag with the numbers all blacked out. Wait! I get it. You altered the photo, not the tag. It would have been cool if you'd changed the numbers/letters to some strange alphabet, perhaps ones that hobbits use. Can you specify exactly where your fee goes, or does everyone interested in aquaculture donate to the same organization?
ReplyDeletePablo,
ReplyDeleteYou are first here today as I was first at your site today. Serendipity amongst those who post every day.
The $$ goes to this foundation which does research and trains all types of aquaculturists. They do much more than aquaculture also, but the tag $ is focused on that area.
I am not a money bags lobbyist so, no, they did not make it at my request.
When I visit my family down there I'm always suprised at the variety of tags. They had a pelethera of them in Maryland, our former residence.
ReplyDeleteUp here in the mountains we don't see them that much. We would,I'm sure, see more if there were some way to commerate the memory of the "late unpleasantness" without offending.
We don't have that many special plates here in Minnesota; our legislature, while no doubt every bit as corrupt, is a lot more pragmatic and would rather waste time on funding proposals for new sports stadiums than special license plates. We do have a conservation plate with a picture of loons on it, and the extra money I think goes to nongame wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI wish the aquaculture industry here was as food-oriented as it is there; instead they mostly raise walleye and other game fish fingerlings to stock into lakes for recreational fishing; never mind that something like 90% of the walleye caught by anglers in Minnesota come from naturally reproducing populations.
Well, I am, and I come equipped with rotenone.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was sort of absent this week but yesterday I discovered you DO have an internet stalker- who loves fish. That little snip at USF (aka, the Snarl) doesn't read mum but she reads FC! What the? I do believe she's planning on writing you for your advice on some Honors College water quality project she's doing...of all the nerve.
ReplyDeleteSo- aren't prisoners still making license plates? They do here- but creative art classes aren't offered. I do have a rather nice Michigan loon plate on the car we drove and left in Florida- probably the only one like it in the whole state. If you see a loon, you'll know it's me.
I agree wholeheartedly, of course. There's that whole vast part of the planet and so few are acquainted with it. The thing is, if they ever find out about it, the oceans will get all touristy, too. We don't want that...
I eat those types of fish all the time and plan to hunt you down and attack your car very soon...
ReplyDeleteStay on your soap box please. My room mate and I are avid fishers when we are both well but we only catch and release and if we don't catch anything so what we have enjoyed time out doors away from phones,etc.
ReplyDeleteI love your tag - very cute.
Is that plate on a motorcycle or red jeep?
ReplyDeleteMac,
ReplyDeleteThat would be a challenging tag to design :)
Deb,
If Walleye taste good, why aren't people farming them for market?
DPR,
Ocean aquaculture of salmon has caused some real water quality problems and questions about escaped salmon being genetically different from wild salmon, and shrimp farming has done much coastal mangrove damage in other countries. Aquaculture is no panacea, but it can be done well and can take the pressure off wild stocks. Everything leaves some kind of imprint...
Hoss,
I had a feeling you were half nuts ;)
Vicki,
Well yeah...I was wondering where you were. Glad you are back! If the Snarl ever needs any fishy advice from me she just has to let me know. I would be honored.
Heron,
LOL, you cracked me up. Welcome aboard!
Doubleknot,
That's the thing about fishing, even if you don't go home smelling fishy, it's still a good day. You release em all? I have to eat a few!
Abandoned,
It's my Jeep, but if I had a little more change rattling around I would have a bike in the barn too! I love em and have had two, but not for awhile.
Okay heron I guessed who ya were before I clicked to check. LOL!
ReplyDeleteCracker.....IF Walleye taste good??
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you need to get out of Florida occasionally. HA!
Zanne,
ReplyDeleteI am hopelessly Floridacentric. Silly me.
...and where did that Walleye name come from?