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.
Where we are today (June 2012):
“The time has come when we must look beyond short-term exploitation of the world’s valuable marine fisheries and embrace their long-term sustainability”
She sure appears to be much more concerned with what happens in Antartica, than what is happening in places like Gloucester and Plymouth, where her policies have destroyed, and continue to destroy local jobs.
“At the CCAMLR meeting this fall, we have an opportunity to permanently protect one of the most unique and least impacted ecosystems on earth – Antarctica – and breathe new life into the development of a network of marine protected areas. The Ross Sea is teeming with penguins, seals, whales, krill, and other living resources, and it may be the closest thing to wilderness left in the oceans, with immense icebergs and vast distances without a human in sight. We seek all of your governments’ support to establish a Ross Sea MPA this year at CCAMLR”
Next, she could be commenting on the current situation in the USA. Where they always err on the side of caution, while pushing through radically low, job destroying catch share quotas:
“Various factors including short-term economic gain, politics and history often lead to risk-prone decision-making. Many fisheries, fishermen, fishing communities, countries and industries have suffered the consequences. Even the best scientific information in the world will not provide complete certainty in outcomes of different fishery management choices. Therefore, erring on the side of caution in making decisions is more likely to achieve sustainable fisheries than risk-prone choices”
Her priority is serving the international management of fisheries, and not specifically the fisheries of the USA (which her policies are destroying):
“We have made important strides in tackling these global challenges, but we need to build on this momentum to continue moving forward.
For many years, we have allowed our resources to be overexploited, making the decisions of today all the more difficult. This has led to a public perception that international management of fisheries has failed. Through our actions, we can change this perception and ensure a sustainable future for global fisheries”“We call upon all of our fellow RFMO members to unite in support of a long-term vision of international fisheries – global fisheries that are well-managed, sustainable sources of fishing, food, and jobs for many years to come.”
This event wasn’t covered by the media, luckily we found these comments by doing deep research. When we look at the “big picture” it’s clear that Dr. Lubchenco has always put the international management of fisheries as a higher priority than the fishermen of the United States. For confirmation, you could look into her previous work as EDF Vice-Chairwoman, which we plan to do here at fisherynation. Stay tuned.
working hard to undermine the US fishing industry
Excellent post Phil. Congats on a great article! BH