DAFF Fails to Pitch at its own Compliance Media Event!

The Daily Dispatch reports that officials from the Department of Fisheries failed to pitch at a media event arranged by the Department itself! And it then left its embarrassed fishery control officers without any explanations as to the reasons for the no-show. This failure by the department epitomizes the absolute dysfunction, chaos and maladministration that has come to define this department. And we expect them to actually protect and manage our fish stocks. They are not able to even manage their own diaries!

This is the actual report from the Daily Dispatch.

A gazebo is pitched near EL’s Eastern Beach, venue of what was supposed to be the launch of an anti-poaching awareness campaign by the national Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in partnership with Buffalo City Metro marine services.

What was meant to be the launch of a national anti-poaching awareness campaign took a bizarre turn in East London yesterday.

None of the officials – from either the national Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or Buffalo City Metro’s marine services – pitched for a press conference in a small gazebo tent at Eastern Beach. After an hour-and-a-half, a few distressed fishery control officers had to tell the media that everything they said was “off the record” because they didn’t have the authority to speak to them .

In the media invitation, the launch – which was meant to take place at the East London Aquarium – the objectives of the campaign were said to include informing and educating members of the public about the importance of marine resources, and its protection and sustainability for future generations. The event was also meant to emphasise the illegal harvesting of abalone as the biggest threat to the country’s marine resources.

“This campaign, with the theme ‘Working Together To Protect Our Marine Resources’, also seeks to illustrate the important role communities play in the protection of these resources,” the department said in a statement.

The department aimed to teach communities about the different ways in which they can work with law-enforcement agencies to bring an end to illegal poaching of marine resources, such as purchasing fish products only from dealers who are authorised to sell them and insist on a receipt, and reporting suspicious activities to the law-enforcement agencies.