Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
The restaurant is named after the Atchafalaya Swamp, where the Atchafalaya River and Gulf of Mexico converge to form the largest swamp in the United States. This swamp is the only growing delta system left in Louisiana, with wetlands that are almost stable, and making up more than 35% of the Mississippi River Delta, it’s larger than the Florida Everglades. With over 500 different species of wildlife, 22 million pounds of crawfish harvested each year, and the largest nesting concentration of bald eagles in the southern United States, this area seems to be thriving. Unfortunately, all other swamps and basins considering part of the Delta are depleting at an alarmingly fast rate.
The degradation of “The Sportsman’s Paradise” hurts not only the environment, but also the economy. According to a 2012 study conducted by the Fisheries Economics of the U.S, the Gulf of Mexico marine industry employed nearly 20 million people across Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida. The commercial fishing location quotient (CFLQ) for Louisiana topped the region at 1.38. This basically means that the level of commercial fisheries employment in Louisiana is almost 1.5 times higher than the nationwide average. Louisiana’s landings revenue topped the southeast at $331 million, almost twice as much as the runner-up, Texas. Just to put into perspective the economic impact of fishing trips on the state, recreational fishing trips impacted Louisiana at $4 trillion, with total trip expenditures topping $2.8 billion. The Mississippi River Delta plays a major role in the economies of Louisiana and Mississippi; once this wildlife refuge becomes used up, people all across the southeast that rely on the marine economy will bear the negative effects, but not nearly as much as the wildlife that calls the Delta home.
Every winter, millions of birds fly down the Mississippi and Central flyways, on their way to warmer temperatures across the Gulf of Mexico. Ducks, geese, and other waterfowl rely on the Delta’s food-rich habitats, whether it be preparing for the 600-mile journey across the Gulf in the fall or recuperating after the flight back north in the spring. Therefore, the destruction of the Delta doesn’t only affect its yearlong residents; waterfowl hunters as far north as Canada feel the effects of the Paradise’s degradation. The entire North American duck hunting community relies on the Mississippi River Delta, as it vanishes before our blind eyes.
The spotted sea trout, commonly known as the speckled trout, is arguably the most widely sought after aquatic species that inhabits the Delta. Even though the speckled trout is a migrating species, they crowd the warm, shallow channels during the spring and summer, feeding on an
