13 September 2004

Mad Management Will Wreck Fisheries

New Zealand First says the Mininstry of Fisheries decision to reduce front line fisheries staff is a classic case of managers being totally out of touch with the reality of enforcement and sends a message to poachers that the coast is clear.

“Fisheries officers fulfill a vital enforcement role, not only in the apprehension of black market poachers but also in ensuring that fishers stick to their legal quotas,” said fisheries spokesperson Pita Paraone.

“Reducing the number of fisheries officers is beyond comprehension. Clustering them together in “Central Investigation Hubs” sounds ominously like creating another level of bureaucracy and more paperwork while it’s open season on the seas and foreshore.

“The threats to frontline staff by serious criminals out there are formidable, but responding to those threats by taking the bobbies off the beat is a ridiculous reaction.

“Increasing numbers and defensive capability would be much more effective than taking them out of service and sticking them in a city office.

“The management of our fisheries resources must be fair and just, and must be seen to be so. This includes the visible presence of enforcement officers patrolling the coastline,” said Mr Paraone.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>