Lubchenco's lack of accountability showed as much as ever when her one-time finalist for the job of heading the National Marine Fisheries Service was socked with a $150,00 fine and a 10-month prison sentence for — surprise, surprise — misreporting landings and cheating on that state's catch share system.
Yet, of the $150,000 poor Arne has to cough up, $100,000 of it is being steered to the quasi-public National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Federal officials are saying that's because they want to target where the harm was done to the fishery — and that would be fine, if it were true. But in reality, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is the organization Lubchenco has already tapped for money to expand her catch share push — after Congress shut down funding to the any such programs as part of the federal budget agreement.
It is that type of defiance that shows Lubchenco's utter contempt of Congress and the corruption of the fishery management system.
And that must be fixed by our congressional lawmakers, not by a federal court judge.
Read the complete editorial from The Gloucester Times