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OPINION: Obama's Cellophane Man |
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Over the past several
years, there has been an increasingly bitter adversarial relationship
between the federal government and the commercial fishing industry,
particularly in New England. The relationship has further deteriorated
under Dr. Lubchenco. Shortly after Lubchenco's confirmation, the
Massachusetts Congressional Delegation requested an Inspector General investigation of the law enforcement situation. The results were stunning and highly embarrassing for NOAA. The IG has revealed incompetent management, corrupt disposition of funds generated by fines and property seizures from fishermen, and vindictive enforcement of regulations.
The initial response from NOAA was to look forward, not backward. They would rewrite procedures and policies, improve communications, and become better custodians of the people's oceans. That is just bureaucratic double-speak for doing nothing substantive. Nobody would be punished, not in Dr. Lubchenco's NOAA. There would be no revisiting the improper fines and penalties identified by the IG; no fisherman would be made whole for inappropriate government aggressiveness. Nope. Let us put this nasty business behind us and get on with ruining the fishing industry. Read the complete opinion piece from American Thinker.
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MELISSA WOOD, NATIONAL FISHERMEN: Meting out the meager
May 22, 2012 - Listening to the New England Council's Groundfish Advisory Panel talk about how that industry is going to pay for monitoring costs is kind of like trying to figure out how to pay your bills when you've just lost your job. Though monitoring is important keeping costs down is critical. As Panel Member Gary Libby pointed out, "If we had 100 percent monitoring we probably wouldn't have an industry."