GLOUCESTER – July 10, 2010 – In a call to the Gloucester Times on Friday, Frank said he's not in any way backing off his demands for the administration — including Lubchenco — to tackle the fishing industry's concerns, notably low catch limits, the conversion to a catch-share economic regulatory format, and now widespread wrongdoing on the part of NOAA law enforcement agents documented in a new and expanded Inspector General's report issued last week.
"They're telling me they can get this done without (ousting Lubchenco)," Frank said in the Times call. "I hope they can show me that, but if they can, and they say they can take care of this without that step, I'm willing to work with them on what I think now is a higher level."
Frank's Thursday call for Lubchenco's replacement was echoed that day by Congressman John Tierney — the Salem attorney who represents Gloucester, all of Cape Ann and much of the North Shore in the U.S. House — and Friday morning by North Carolina Republican Congressman Walter Jones, whose district includes the fishing communities of the Outer Banks.
There was no word from Tierney's nor Jones' offices Friday on whether they had reconsidered their calls. Both have, like Frank, stood behind fishermen and other industry businesses in their push for regulatory and other changes.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.