Here’s Hoping We Get Some Improvement
I doubt it could get any worse but with a changing administration we at least have a hope that the new Secretary of Commerce (and All Things Fishing Related) will at least have some valid experience, maybe he’ll even care about the fishermen almost as much as the fish.
Naah, what am I saying. No sense getting my hopes up too much.
Anyway, I was reading the section of my very own personal personalized google home page titled (creatively enough) “Fishing Gulf of Mexico” and was led to this article from “Grist”, a website that calls themselves a place for “Environmental News and Commentary”. I’ve never stumbled across the site before so I’m not sure what their particular stance on many issues might be, but there was a lot of sense in this article about The Secretary of Commerce job. It was titled “Like a Fish Out of Water” which I found amusing in the saddest sort of way.
It was written by Andrew Sharpless who is the CEO of Oceana which is yet one more Pew funded anti-fishing organizations with a “Protect Our Oceans” agenda that seeks to take away the right of commercial fisherman to pursue a living fishing in those Oceans that they seem to think are “theirs” but not really “ours”.
Despite my general distrust of his group and dislike of their agenda as well as their methods, I found some common ground between us in our take on just who is running the agencies that have come to have so much of a negative impact on our lives and our way of life. Unfortunately, we split almost immediately when it became evident that his biggest concern was that the current Secretary had been far to easy on the bad guys, and that the bad guys would be us, the commercial fishermen.
I believe that the fact that Environmental Activists are taking such an early interest in who is going to be appointed to positions in the next administration that will have a bearing on their future agendas is one more indication of how well organized, funded and dedicated those that are fighting to have us shut down are. If it isn’t already too late for the American commercial fisherman, it will be soon if we don’t step up to the plate and take a pro-active interest in what is being done by our govenment in the name of conservation.
Like a fish out of water
One more environmental Cabinet position that counts particularly for oceans
In its feature “Stocking the Cabinet” Grist speculated on Barack Obama’s potential nominees for the “top environmental jobs” in his administration.
For the oceans, however, the most pertinent post isn’t the head of the EPA, or the secretary of agriculture, energy, or interior, all of which were included in Grist’s guessing game. Guess what is?
Hint: The position is currently filled by a man who made his fortune selling Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes.
Give up?
It’s the Secretary of Commerce, a post now held by Carlos Gutierrez, late of Kellogg. His background as a business executive may have led Gutierrez to believe that being Secretary of Commerce was about, you know, commerce.
Surprise: The Department of Commerce’s top duty is running U.S. fisheries. NOAA accounts for 60 percent of the department’s budget and one-third of its staff. And it’s NOAA that oversees all fishing within 200 nautical miles of our coastline.
quoted from the Grist post. Full text is here: Gristmill blog
You could see the same “Fishing Gulf of Mexico” feed from google that I referred to and subscribe to it if you use an RSS reader by clicking here.
