June 15, 2011 – GLOUCESTER, Mass – In her teleconference here a month ago today — held to apologize to members of the fishing industry for an era of abusive law enforcement actions — NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco sought to insulate herself from culpability.
She did this by proclaiming she had made "fair and effective enforcement a top priority" from her "first day in office," March 20, 2009.
But the earliest action by Lubchenco, according to a chronological log prepared by her office for the Gloucester Times, didn't come until June 2009, three months later, when, already under pressure from Congress, she called in the Commerce Department inspector general.
In the interval, she was provided briefs and ruled on the middle case of three brought by the agency against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, which had become the epicenter of law enforcement intensity and resistance.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.