JOB SUMMIT AND FRIDAY ROUND UP.

We have been involved , one way or another in enough talk fests to sink a Cook Strait Ferry.

So despite staying positive we did harbour a few niggling doubts about the Job summit.
However we think some really good stuff has come out of it-
Bollard and English made it clear how bad things are. The problem is 390 time the size of the NZ economy.

And there was some very cool off the wall stuff. Weirdly we like the bike track idea. Creating a Bike track from one end of the country to the other But then with ma and pa resting up in Alexandra, we have first hand knowledge of the micro economy that surround the Rail Trail bike way.

We reckon little communities along the way can replicate the Central Otago Rail Trail. And we wonder if it can be linked to any projects increasing the reach of broadband.

So we quite like that idea - despite the fact that bike seats are swallowed whole by BB's ample derriere and are never seen again, biking is a good thing.

And we have already blogged extensively on four day working weeks. So the nine day fortnight gets a tick.

But the best part of the summit is that the economic crisis is a bit of a slow moving Tsunami and we have a bit of time ( not a lot but a wee bit ,) so the Summit has been a good starting point to get our economic shit together.
Everyone needs to play their part and the public service is no exception.
We think that the best thing the bureaucray can do is unravel all the regs and rules that stifle business and everyday life and quick smart. However we had heard that work is well underway on such stuff. We will report when we know more.

And for the round up.

• We have heard that four Labour backbenchers would have bailed from Parliament but the tight job market is holding them back.
• Should the poultry and seafood industries be grumpy that only beef sammies were served at the Job Summit?
  
• Will Dockside get a full house for the annual Bluff Oyster Lunch next week?
  
• What is the exciting new fishery the Seafood industry is exploring that will have foodies in ecstacy?
  
• Is there really a big problem with the Marlborough Blue Cod fishery?
  
• And Twits and Tweeters (Forest and Bird) is is sealing their reputation by carrying out a weird protest next week. We hear they will get a chilly reception.
  

GREENY BULLSHIT ABOUT HOOKER SEALIONS

The standard is going crook about new Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley increasing the allowable sealion bycatch for the squid industry.

We know this issue very, very well. There is nothing "threatened" about the Hooker Sealion population - there are thousands of the buggers in and around the oceans way south of New Zealand where the squid fishery is largely based. Note the use of the word "threatened" rather than "endangered" - which does mean that something is demonstrably in trouble.

BB gets up close and personal ( well as close as you can get considering their propensity to suffer from cetacean halitosis) with these wonderful creatures on a regular basis. We have even hand feed them and swum with them. Never stand in their poop. It is as vile as animal poop gets. Its normally white with little fishy bits in it and very slippery and it sticks to rubber like - well poop sticks to rubber. And they will chase you on land but in the water they dont seem to give a shit about you.

So the Standard and Forest and Bird are getting all hysterical because National has imposed a much more realistic level of by catch from 81 to 113.

Now, in 1998 lots of pups died from some mysterious bug. Curiously and importantly, overcrowding was not discounted as a possible factor in the spread of the unknown malady.

Up until that point there were an estimated 15,000. In 2003 it was estimated that the population was about 13000. Both of these figures are wildly speculative and considered to be a underestimate of actual number which fisheries experts put at about 20,000 . There is a population of about 30 - 35 that resides in Small craft in Port Pegasus. DOC estimated it at the time to be 5 -1o animals which has been one reason we have never trusted their estimates. As you will witness from the pics - an young one on the left and an old beachmaster on the right - they spend quite a bit of time deep in the bush. These two were photographed by BB about 1km inland up a fresh water creek with towering rimu all around.
So DOC takes pics of the ones on the beach - not the ones in the bush - which at any time seem to be about half the population.

They are truly magnificent animals and we were deeply upset when a fisherman shot some of them a few years back and left them to rot on our island beach. However we are also pragmatic and the Squid industry is an important one for New Zealand the forth largest in earnings at 86 million a year.

So at less than one percent this bycatch is still very, very low.

DOC's lickspittles over at Forest and Bird should look at other burning issues like cats on Stewart Island which do huge amounts of damage to small bird life instead of twittering and tweetering about the minimal collateral damage to yet another species of, to coin a phrase from Ta Tipene O'Regan, "charismatic mega fauna." But then thats the rub, F and B wouldn't get much traction for calling for a cull of a heap of bad pussies. So, instead, they just pick on the causes that will appeal to an animal cuddling public to ensure the donations keep flowing. How venal.

scampi scarce as truths from the mouth of winston

Maybe Scampi should be on the list of endangered species - we hear that sanfords have only caught just over 40% of their quota with but a few weeks to go... other scampi boats are tied up - because there isnt enough fish. How did this happen? how did the industry/ministry get it so wrong? was it bad science ? was it bad fishing practices ?

"Will the MSM get to to the bottom of this latest scampi revelation.?