It was certainly good to hear that U.S. Sen. John Kerry and three fishing coast congressmen — John Tierney, Barney Frank and William Delahunt — have stepped up and formally asked National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco to call a halt to any and all fishing industry prosecutions by NOAA enforcement personnel until the Inspector General's probe into NOAA's agents malfeasance can be completed.
The troubling question is why Kerry, Tierney, Frank and Delahunt even had to call for such an obvious and very basic action.
The truth is, even preliminary findings by the Office of Inspector General Todd Zinser have mapped out widespread NOAA enforcement problems under national administrator Dale Jones — especially in the Gloucester-based Northeast regional fiefdom headed by Andy Cohen.
And while the letter from Kerry and his House colleagues — which would also clearly have the support of new U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, given his appearance at Wednesday's "United We Fish" rally — spotlights the need for Lubchenco to take a very appropriate step, it also once again drives home the point that she hasn't.