Daily Archives: November 3, 2012
THE FACTS
Federal fisheries enforcement and the 2012 election – a purposeful cover-up?
Fact: Senator Scott Brown (Republican) and candidate Elizabeth Warren (Democrat) are in a close race for one of the two Massachusetts seats in the United States Senate.
Fact: A majority in the United States Senate, which is now in the hands of the Democratic Party, is considered by many pundits to be “up for grabs” in the rapidly approaching election, and the outcome in Massachusetts will be critical in determining which party controls the Senate – and the United States Congress – starting in 2013.
Fact: Senator Scott Brown has been an ardent supporter of the commercial fishing industry and has been particularly outspoken about an ongoing investigation of corruption at the highest levels of the enforcement branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Fact: New Englanders in general and residents of Massachusetts in particular tend to be extremely supportive of their fishing communities and of the fishing heritage that has played such a significant role in shaping the character of their coastline.
Fact: A 514 page report on the follow-up investigation by Special Master Charles Swartwood of NOAA enforcement abuses of fishermen and fishing associated businesses centered in New England and primarily in Massachusetts was completed and delivered to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce in March of 2012.
Fact: In spite of strong bipartisan Congressional prodding to make the report public, prodding in which Senator Scott Brown has assumed a leadership role, (Acting) Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank has refused to do so. To her credit Elizabeth Warren, his opponent, has been seeking the release of the report as well.
Fact: Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s brother, Cameron Kerry, is general counsel of the Department of Commerce.
Seal overpopulation is causing controversy! Culling seal to save cods is nonsense- Keeping the Sea Coyote in Check!
It’s a predictable response, replete with arrogance, ignorance, rationalization and insensitivity. Consider: Because the Atlantic cod has declined drastically in numbers and can no longer sustain a once-flourishing fishing industry, a Senate committee wants to cull some 70,000 grey seals “to preserve remaining fish stocks.”http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/02/culling-seal-to-save-cods-is-nonsense
Fishing community hit hard by Hurricane Sandy Sandy’s near-term effect on Long Island’s recreational angling community and the local fishing industry
Nowhere on Long Island was Sandy’s impact greater than along the Atlantic coast from the western South Shore through the West End towns and beaches.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/outdoors/fishing-community-hit-hard-by-hurricane-sandy-1.4179209
John Bullard, enemy of porpoises?- or Is Carl Safina just a winey Enviro Wench?!
Bullard just gave those fishermen a free pass to ignore the law for another four months,” fumed Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute in a sizzling commentary titled “As Fisheries Service Dithers, New England Porpoises Drown.” And Sufina is willing to sacrifice the remainder of New England fishermen. John Bullard upheld National Standard 8. Finally someone has the balls to do things right, and Safina the winey bitch is drooling with mad contempt while co-author Andrew Read, professor of marine biology at Duke University pouts with him. I think it’s time to land these porpoises, and process them for people to eat. I’m willing to eat it instead of wasting it. They like all other Marine Mammals are experiencing a population explosion thanks to the success of MMPA, a law pushed by environs and others in 1972 with no consideration of consequence. That being huge numbers of marine mammals! Bon Appetit!
November 02, 2012 12:00 AM, Steve Urbon-Three months into his tenure as the Northeast regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, former New Bedford mayor John K. Bullard is being called a heartless porpoise killer and a pushover, or worse, for the fishing industry. And it’s not just anyone doing the accusing. It is a pair of prominent marine scientists, one of whom Bullard says he considers a friend from his earlier days at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121102/NEWS/211020324
