Tag Archives: noaa-chief-jane-lubchenco

Deep sea of distrust – Catch-share controversy, and an uncertain future

Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part look at the tensions between local fishermen and regulators, and the beginning of a series on the fishing industry in general. Part 2 in next weekend’s Seacoast Sunday will feature the input of a NOAA scientist, new regional administrator John Bullard and David Goethel, a Hampton fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council.

PORTSMOUTH — The new regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service says his goal is to rebuild trust with fishermen, but fishermen are able to rattle off a litany of complaints against the federal agency and its scientists that indicate the relationship may be beyond repair.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120923-NEWS-209230338

EDF and Catch Shares

Sometimes you can’t help but laugh out loud while doing research. I recently had one of those experiences.

Check out the About.com Guide for “The Environmental Defense Fund and Catch Shares”

EDF influence has rewritten the government’s policies on fisheries management.

The EDF is a strong proponent of catch shares. The large and influential organization is one of the main reasons NOAA has adopted catch shares as its new fisheries management mechanism.

The following passage had me laughing so hard, I almost cried.

In 2009, former EDF Vice-Chairwoman Dr. Jane Lubchenco was named the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator by President Barack Obama. She is the head of NOAA. Curiously, her tenure at EDF is omitted from her extensive resume in her 500 word biographical information on her NOAA Web page.

Gee, I wonder why that’s been omitted? ;)

Fishing aid letter ignores catch share impact

A draft letter to congressional leaders from the office of Sen. John Kerry, circulating within the New England delegation in connection with a proposed and controversial fisheries aid package, blames the decline of the groundfishery on weakened fish stocks — and nothing else.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1011133727/Fishing-aid-letter-ignores-catch-share-impact

http://bore-head007.newsvine.com/

Sometimes the mask slips

When Jane Lubchenco was appointed as the head of NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in 2009, I believe that it enabled an important part of a decades long plan to transform America into just another member of the global community, from the inside. This has enabled these “Fabian Socialists” to accelerate the process of destroying the commercial fishing industry in the USA, to further their long-term vision of sustainable  international fisheries.

Dr. Lubchenco has demonstrated a total disinterest in the economic crisis that she has created in places like Gloucester Mass, and all along the coasts of New England and across this great country. She has gone to great lengths to completely avoid addressing the issues that are important to our fishermen.

In 2011, she declined to testify at a U.S. Senate subcommittee invitation in Boston called “How is NOAA managing funds to protect the domestic fishing industry”. Makes sense if you look at the facts (as we have), and find that she isn’t interested in protecting the domestic fishing industry at all. Dr. Lubchenco has always been looking at a bigger picture.

I’d like to highlight some recent comments that she made at a RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organizations) conference in Belgium on June 1st, 2012. This doesn’t happen often, as she tends to avoid the spotlight, but on this day it seems that her mask slipped. She made numerous comments that represent (what I believe to be) her true motivation for the decisions that she makes at NOAA.