A not-so-fishy story

[Creag]

by Bobby Jordan | 05 August, 2015

South Africa's fish stocks are in deep trouble - and some are even close to collapse.

That was the alarming message yesterday from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in a presentation to parliament about the state of the country's fishing industry.

"Our country's resource situation is bad. We have stocks which could collapse at any time," acting deputy director-general Siphokazi Ndudane told parliament's portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

"Some fish species could be completely eliminated," she said.

The situation was being exacerbated by the fact that the department's only research vessel had been gathering dust for more than two years, Ndudane said.

Stock assessments are currently carried out by private fishing industry vessels.

...

The rest of the story at source: Times Live | http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/08/05/A-not-so-fishy-story

 

[The_Unbeliever]

And nothing will be done.

Sugar bowl syndrome :

from a foreign correspondent

"THE SUGAR BOWL SYNDROME" NOTHING HAS CHANGED - 20 odd years later.

Many, many years ago, when I was but a young lad, my parents moved to the little country of Nyasaland (now Malawi) in East-Central Africa. My mother found it quite difficult, at first, to adjust to having local servants in the house, but they were very inexpensive by European standards, so why not? But unlike most of the expat wives, she decided to go out to work to keep her brain busy.

Every day before she left, she would ask the cook, Joseph, if we needed any groceries, so that she could buy them while she was in town, and mostly the reply was "No, Madam".

Invariably, that evening, something like the following would unfold.

"Joseph, where is the sugar for the coffee?"

"Madam, it is finished".

"But I asked you this morning if we needed anything from the shops, why didn't you tell me it was nearly finished?"

"But Madam, there was still some in the bowl when you asked, it got finished at lunchtime"

This "Sugar Bowl Syndrome", as my father named it, is fundamental to what is happening to us here in South Africa, with the Eskom fiasco. It highlights the mental processes that are at the heart of how our government and quasi-government organizations work (or, more accurately, why they don't work).

The "Sugar Bowl" of electricity/water/aircraft/armed forces/highways still had some capacity, ten, or even five years ago. There was no need to practice planned maintenance or plan for the future. The funds earmarked for these essentials were diverted elsewhere, notably for hugely expensive self-congratulatory celebrations, trips overseas, fancy cars and a bloated "jobs for the comrades" bureaucracy.

The "Slash and Burn" heritage, where you work the land until it is exhausted and then move on to a fresh patch, is still with us: except that there ain't no more arable land left.

It's "Finished, Madam" and the sugar bowl she is broken.

 

[Batista]

Not suprised...

 

[akescpt]

BS! tina took care of this portfolio! racists! im sure she didn't just lick cups.

 

[Kornhub]

Not just our fish stocks

 

[Solarion]

My fishing rod sits at home gathering dust. There just aren't any fish like their used to be back in the 80's and 90's.