GLOUCESTER, Mass. — December 12, 2012 — Jane Lubchenco today announced her decision to resign as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the end of February.
Finding her style to be imperious and rigid, U.S. Congressmen John Tierney, Barney Frank and Scott Brown were united in calling for the president to replace Lubchenco by mid-2010. Fishermen were galvanized by dislike for her personality and policies — especially the commodification of the groundfishery, which has been in a steady decline since her appointment — and held national rallies at the Capitol in 2010 and 2011 that drew more than two dozen members of Congress.
In an email to her subordinates at NOAA, Lubchenco wrote that “I have decided to return to my family and academia at the end of February. I am immensely proud of all we have accomplished in the last four years and know full well that we have been able to do so much only because of your impressive talent and dedication.”
Lubchenco’s email also included a laundry list of achievements including: “ending overfishing, rebuilding depleted stocks and returning fishing to profitability,” none of which has come about. The disaster declaration by Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank last September was a formal admission that the catch share commodification of the Northeast groundfishery had not been successful.
Read the full story in the Gloucester Times