Tag Archives: jane-lubchenco-grossly-failed-policies
NOAA region chief Bullard hedges on interim limits
The coalition theory was based on an interpretation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act for building a second year of relief — “reducing” rather than “ending” overfishing — while a plan to bring the stock to maximum sustainable yield is crafted.,“I’m not going to opine on whether you can squeeze another year out of (the Magnuson regulations),” Bullard said in a Thursday interview at the Times. “We’re willing to take a look at this at the meeting.” Read More
Editorial: Feds cannot allow exiting NOAA chief any transition role
There c
an be no celebration, only a sense of profound relief over the resignation and coming exit of Jane Lubchenco as chief administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And that sense of relief should not allow either commercial fishermen or our federal lawmakers to relax their guards between now and the February date when Lubchenco will formally bow out of her role. Indeed, the downside of Lubchenco’s plan to leave her six-figure post is that the Department of Commerce is essentially allowing her to do so on her own terms as if she should have had any choice after her policies reduced one of America’s oldest and most noble small-business industries to an admitted state of “economic disaster” in New England during her four short years at the helm. Read More
Commerce secretary: Return $544K in fish fines – Bloomberg
BOSTON (AP) — The acting U.S. Commerce Secretary on Friday ordered federal regulators to return about $544,000 in unjust fines collected from 14 fishermen or fishing businesses, most of whom worked Northeast waters. New Bedford fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael, who will receive $17,500 back after Blank’s order, said he’s pleased to get anything, given the industry’s ongoing struggles. But he said the bigger victory is accountability for fisheries’ officers. “Even if I didn’t get any money, the world is watching them,” he said. “Before nobody was watching them. … Before they were like the Gestapo. Before you were (automatically) guilty, the party was over.” http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-14/commerce-secretary-return-544k-in-fish-fines
Update: Lubchenco leaving NOAA, says she ‘returned fishing to profitability’
Her departure from the Obama administration will end a four-year regimen that promised revitalization of the fisheries via a new economic system based on privatization known as catch shares but instead produced a declared fisheries disaster in the Northeast and a spontaneous resistance by industry all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x2120615228/Breaking-Lubchenco-leaving-NOAA
Lubchenco departure fuels hope for change in fishing rules
I’m happy for everyone here that this has transpired. It was but a few short weeks ago that Lubchenco wanted another four years as head of NOAA.
“There is so much more yet to do, and I want to do everything possible to make [it] happen,” she tells ScienceInsider. ScienceInsider traveled to Monterey, California, last week to attend a scientific conference on ocean acidification, where this wide-ranging interview with Lubchenco took place.” http://news.sciencemag.org/sci…
This tells me she was cut loose, and the “Singing My Own Praise Song” that includes twenty verses of success malarkey was sung by NOAA’s Milli Vanilli.
The question for fishermen and industry is, do we let them push another destructive leader into the slot, or do we for once push for someone trustworthy and credible, as one united front?
Whom would be the one person known to this industry that would fit this criteria?
I, like many of you have read damn near everything printed, anywhere I could find it, and of all the names that meet the criteria may not, for a multitude of reasons be interested, but I’m going to throw it out there and gauge the response.
Dr.Brian Rothschild.
This man is more than qualified, and could assemble a nucleus of trustworthy team members that could restore the trust destroyed by decades of mismanagement.
Magnuson will be reauthorized in 2016.
Who do YOU want in charge.
Jane Lubchenco to leave NOAA in Feburary – Jellyfish Jane’s Heady Top Twenty List (to be discected)
We’ve ta
ckled some big challenges together. Through an emphasis on transparency,
integrity, innovation, team work and communication, we have made significant
progress on multiple fronts. As you know, NOAA’s breadth is one of our greatest
challenges, but it’s also our great strength. Both are in evidence below. Our
notable progress includes (in no particular order!):
Salt of the Sea Video Trailer
Filmed aboard several independently owned/operated commercial fishing boats in the Northeast, Salt of the Sea juxtaposes the working fishermen’s perspective on regulations with key players in Federal fishery management. Topics include NOAA’s lost $48 million scandal, inaccurate Cod fish quotas, and overzealous enforcement. http://www.saltofthesea.tv/salt-of-the-sea-trailer.html www.facebook.com/saltofthesea
Editorial: Fishery appeals ruling put onus on capping catch shares
Yet no o
ne should believe that this ruling marks the end of the fight over catch shares, or other aspects of the gross mismanagment of New England’s and America’s fisheries by the administrator Jane Lubchenco and her National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as we know it. For in standing by Amendment 16 and catch shares, Chief Judge Sandra Lynch — who wrote the decision or the court – cited a December 2011 announcement by the regional fishery council that it is developing rules aimed at “reduc(ing) the likelihood that groundfish permit holders will acquire or control excessive shares or fishing privileges.”http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x520555400/Editorial-Fishery-appeals-ruling-put-onus-on-capping-catch-shares
U.S. Court of Appeals Rules Against New Bedford & Gloucester et al- Sides with Feds and Special Interests
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down every one of a number of arguments the cities and their co-plaintiffs in the industry made in their appeal. The court upheld a 2011 lower court decision in the suit brought by the two ports as well as fishermen and fishing groups. Broadly speaking, the court ruled that the government stayed within the letter and spirit of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, which was designed to end overfishing in the Northeast.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121129/NEWS/211290345
He said with two unambiguous court rulings in the government’s favor, there should be no doubt now that the fishing law is legal. “The challenge now is to get this fishery functioning in the way it ought to be functioning,” Shelley said.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121129/NEWS11/121129728
Read the official ruling here Read the background on the case and appeal here
Lawyer blasts NOAA ‘failure’ on fishing – gdt
“This Thanksgiving, I want to give an overdue thanks to the region’s remaining fishermen who brave the elements and bring my family fish and seafood products to eat,” Shelley wrote. “All of us have failed to provide you with a rational, predictable and equitable business environment in which to nourish your hopes of being part of the American dream.“The system has failed you and will continue to fail you as long as it continues to give each of you what you individually demand.”Shelley’s harsh judgment comes as a time when NOAA, led by Jane Lubchenco, is under fire from industry groups and congressional figures from both parties for its policies.
What a phoney bastard. BH
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x520553412/Lawyer-blasts-NOAA-failure-on-fishing
Fish quota limits spark debate GloucesterTimes.com
In May 2010, just at the moment NOAA put into operation a free trading commodity market for groundfishermen who were given an allocation and joined into a fishing cooperative, a perfect storm of constrictions began strangling the industry. The New England Fishery Management Council last week came to a consensus that the “disaster” made of the groundfishery required belated intervention — an attempt to preserve fleet diversity between big and little boats and regulate the free market to bar more of the $80 million industry from falling into a small number of big hands and external investors.
Editorial: What does it take for criminal probe of NOAA actions? It has reached the point at which it must be considered a criminal obstruction of justice.
For Buckso
n and NOAA in general to spend even a dime on this kind of bogus PR when they and the Commerce Department continue to refuse release of the so-called Swartwood II report – a 550-page follow-up report delving deeper into 66 additional cases of excessive NOAA enforcement — is beyond hypocritical. It has reached the point at which it must be considered a criminal obstruction of justice. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x2120604507/Editorial-What-does-it-take-for-criminal-probe-of-NOAA-actions
One important element of RFM is “catch shares”
I’ve identified a webpage at the “Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation” that is evidence of how the NGO’s used the UN and their own puppets at NOAA/NMFS, to push through their catch shares scam.
See how they explain a couple of tools that were designed for this initiative: Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Reforming Fisheries Management (RFM). They also mention that they funded the first Step by Step Guide to MSP, published by UNESCO in 2009. I’ve found a copy if this guide, and I hope to be reporting further on it in the near future. The Moore Foundation partnered with the David & Lucile Packard Foundation on this UN guide.
Catch shares are an “important” part of this MSP strategy. Here is the Moore/Packard/UN checklist for reasons that you might be interested in MSP:
Checklist for defining the usefulness of this guide to MSP
FLASHBACK! John Kerry – “Lubchenco is your friend,” February 2010 To leave the Fish Wars as Secretary of Defense?
Kerry released the following statement to the Times yesterday in response to a request about his position on Magnuson. “The status quo isn’t working, and I say that as someone who is passionate about the environment, but who can see plainly that people are hurting and there are legitimate issues that have to be fixed. “I’m going to be talking with fishing and environmental experts at the state and federal level to develop sustainable fisheries in New England and work with the New England delegation, as I always have, to keep federal assistance flowing into Massachusetts for our fishing families and to rebuild the fisheries.” http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x966804462/Kerry-to-fishermen-Lubchenco-your-friend
No offense Senator,,,,,,,,,,screw it, Senator Kerry, you thought then, as you do now, that its all about frittering out a few bucks to to the victims of President Obama’s US Commerce Department, the New England Fishing Industry. You have been ineffective Senator, and I’m done beating the drum for you. You have not delivered, Senator.
Please, John Kerry, just go away! http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061174640
Fishing aid tied to fed budget talks Gloucester Daily Times
Overshadowed by the scale of the pieces in play on the national chess board — trillions in budget cuts, tens if not hundreds of billions in potential tax cuts lost and gained, and unspecified help for Hurricane Sandy’s victims and farm victims of drought — is a unified effort by the New England and New York congressional delegations to place a marker for $100 million for disaster assistance for fishermen and fishing communities.http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x257827572/Fishing-aid-tied-to-fed-budget-talks
“The fishing industry, in general, is in a very negative mood,” The Controversial Science of Counting Fish
At the meeting in Portsmouth on Friday, scientists detailed the complexities and uncertainties of counting fish that live out of sight. They also took questions from fishing industry advocates frustrated over what they say are shifting and incorrect population estimates that have led to lower catch limits and damaged their businesses http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20121112-NEWS-211120323
Election alters fishing’s landscape GDT.- Barney’s Gone. Scott’s Gone. Huge Ramification’s, and they ain’t good.
“Elizabeth Warren will be the champion of the fishing industry,” Ferrante predicted in an interview Wednesday. “She has experience up against Wall Street, big oil, and lost the chance to open the consumer financial protection bureau because of her feuding with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner when Obama refused to submit her name for Senate confirmation.http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1499661062/Election-alters-fishings-landscape
millionaires and billionaires…beep…..millionaires and billionaires…beep…..
Presidential race radar never hit fishing crises
The crisis threatening the survival of Gloucester and other East Coast fishing communities — which have declined into officially declared disaster during the last four years — has not registered a blip during the 2012 national election campaign, even as voters go to the polls today. Neither Mitt Romney nor President Obama has paid a whit’s attention to an $331 million industry, though Obama has given silent support to his team at NOAA Fisheries, headed by Jane Lubchenco, over calls for her ouster from several fedral lawmakers. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x121541642/Presidential-race-radar-never-hit-fishing-crises
Federal fisheries enforcement and the 2012 election – a purposeful cover-up? By Nils Stolpe
Here are 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. READ MORE
The Report that has not been released, and won’t be until after the election. THE FREE PRESS
The Swartwood II Report Justice that is deserved, will continue to be denied until after the election, but why? The investigation has been completed, but not released, in spite of the demands of many elected officials from both parties. There is something about this report that is keeping (Acting) Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank from releasing the514 page report on the follow-up investigation by Special Master Charles Swartwood of NOAA enforcement abuses of fishermen and fishing associated businesses. Swartwood II was completed in March, 2012 and delivered to the Commerce Department. A spokesman for Commerce explained this is “to gather more information regarding issues identified in the second Swartwood report.” I’m curious to understand the need for Commerce to gather “more information” that won’t be added to Swartwood II.http://bore-head007.newsvine.com/_news/2012/10/31/14809392-the-report-that-has-not-been-released-and-wont-be-until-after-the-election-the-free-press
Fish report release unlikely before elections By Richard Gaines Staff Writer Gloucester Daily Times
The Obama administration, through its Commerce Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has declined to respond to inquiries as to whether it would release before the Nov. 6 election a special investigator’s set of case studies into allegations of abuse and excesses against American fishermen by federal law enforcers still insulated and protected by top Commerce and NOAA officials. Numerous telephone and email questions over the past month to the acting commerce secretary, Rebecca Blank, General Counsel Cameron Kerry, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and her chief counsel, Lois Schiffer, have been ignored. Read More.
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1133190572/Fish-report-release-unlikely-before-elections
Why would US Commerce hold back Swartwood II until after the election? Are they complicit?
Why will this administration continue to obstruct justice and not release this report? It is complicit. The Obama Administrations Commerce Department has chosen to involve itself in this perverse abomination.
We are all aware of the gooey details of Administrative Law Judge Joseph Ingolia, pressing Special Master Swartwood to alter his report to cover up details that have shown theUSCG ALJ was involved in a despicable kangaroo court cash grab, all but guaranteeing that Dale Jones’ All Star cast of “Special Agents” and Chuck Juliand would build up a $100 million dollar slush fund, and rifle through half of that on cars planes, and video games, while Andy sold merchandise on E-Bay with his GI phone. Andy should be re scrutinized.
When Lubchenco requested the investigation, she had the chance to fix, but she chose not to.
“The notes and emails to Swartwood coordinating the meeting reflect the active involvement of Cam Kerry, chief counsel for the Commerce Department, and his deputy Geovette Washington, as well as Monica Medina, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco’s principal deputy. Their initiative was aimed at clearing the reputation of the Coast Guard judges via the secret meeting.”
She chose to manipulate, and her Gulf BP oil dripping hands are all over this. Cover up. Secret meetings. Business as usual. Don’t rock the NOAA boat. Blow it out of the water. It’s beyond time for a full dismantling of this agency and Jane Lubchenco’s firing. As always,
ABOLISH CATCH SHARES NOW!
