Industry heard "Let's move forward, let's go forward, and let's be forward thinking." That would be fine, if the abuse was taken care of, but to move forward without dealing with those issues struck many as a refusal to deal with problems in a "fair, effective, and transparent" manner.
In response to mounting pressure from Congress and industry, and under the cloud of a scathing Office of Inspector General Report, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco and her underlings held a law enforcement summit in Washington DC this week ostensibly designed to see how industry and law enforcement could begin to work together and fix the myriad problems the OLE has.
The problem from the get-go was neither Lubchenco or any of her staff had any desire to address the things that the IG's Report highlighted or that have caused so much misery for the industry. Instead industry heard a constant mantra of "Let's move forward, let's go forward, and let's be forward thinking." That would have been fine, if the systemic abuse that has been heaped on the industry for the last decade was already taken care of, but to move forward without dealing with those issues struck many as business as usual and an obstinate refusal by the Agency to deal with its problems in a "fair, effective, and transparent" manner, the term used by Lubchenco, NMFS boss Eric Schwaab, and others.
The Gloucester Times wrote: "Despite gentle provocation from a former chief counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, top officials of the scandalized federal fisheries law enforcement system Tuesday gave no sign they are rethinking a plan to march forward without looking back for miscarriages of justice." Despite claims by Lubchenco that this summit was the "First step" in dealing with the IG Report, there can be no first step without dealing with the scandalous past of this agency and the folks that are responsible, all of whom are still on the payroll.
It was revealed this week that Dale Jones, although removed from the head post at OLE, is still on the payroll. Does he still have his car? Jones' own explanation of shredding documents stated in part, "I simply was purging unused and infrequently or seldom accessed older files that were redundant, out dated, obsolete, antiquated or expired. Nothing that would have been relevant to the matters subject to the ongoing review by your office was disposed of. I hope that this is helpful or otherwise responsive to you needs."
Really, fishermen get ten thousand dollar fines for mistakes in log books! Imagine if fishermen destroyed records in advance of an investigation by NMFS OLE. The OIG's Report is available for everyone to see, the investigation is ongoing. But enough is known about how this Agency allowed OLE to abuse our industry that "moving forward" will have to wait.
Dr. Lubchenco should do what real leaders do in situations like this, face the Agency's problems head on and work with investigators and Congress to purge the Agency of its bad apples, no matter who they turn out to be, and let the chips to fall where they may.
One thing was plainly evident at the "summit"; none of the so-called environmental groups present, nor any of the Agency's minions, are in any hurry to look back and bring to justice those who have abused their positions and the trust of the regulated public.