Well, when the local media talk about Kerry, it is in negative terms.

[Mass]

I do not know anything specific about this issue and have no position on this particular topic, but what shocks me, on this article as well as a couple of report I heard in the media, is that it is in direct contradiction with what I read in the same Gloucester Times a few days before the meeting, where Kerry was reported to have acted by writing a letter to Lubchenco telling her to stop applying the law as it was not writing. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/puopinion/local_story_056215236.html?keyword=topstory

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_056221143.html

While it may not be a huge issue nationally, it is a huge issue stateside, and it is bothering to read this negative press while the media are touting Brown for basically doing nothing.

Reading the article makes it clear that this is a lot of BS, given that Kerry is not ignoring the problem,

Yesterday I met with more than 50 Massachusetts fishermen who came to Washington to share what's happening to them and their families. They're getting whacked hard right now and it's wrong. They're absolutely right that there should be a moratorium on pending enforcement cases against fishermen and I share their concerns about the enforcement of federal regulations," he said in the statement. "Now I'm coordinating a meeting between fishermen and federal authorities to resolve these concerns as soon as humanly possible."

But as often, a straight answer with nothing behind like this is preferred to an attempt to be wiser.

In contrast to Kerry, Republican Brown, at a similar meeting with protestors, conceded he had much to learn but said he saw the need to add flexibility to Magnuson. Brown also said that he was depending on state Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-Gloucester, with whom he served in the state Senate, to be his teacher on fisheries issues. Tarr has been a stalwart leader for the New England fishing industry for more than a decade.

[blm]

1. Isn't Gloucester a Moonie stronghold, similar to Bridgeport, Conn.?

I imagine the newsmedia there WOULD be slanted towards the RW revisionist agenda.

[TayTay]

4. No but it is full of conspiracy theories

Brown has no knowledge of the background there. The fishing industry has been in decline for decades. In brief, Gloucester (Glaw-stah) feels that it has been unfairly punished in the recent regulations from the government. There is some justification for that. One of the solutions to the problem of over-fishing was a complex system of licenses that would allow for fishing catches to be regulated communally.

To make a long, long story short, some believe that these licenses are a way for giant fishing concerns to crowd out the little guys. They believe that the licenses were intended to make it impossible for the small businessmen to make a living at sea.

Sen. Kerry and this community go back a long, long way and they have stuck with him, even through the bad times. 'tis an interesting tale to tell.

[blm]

5. How did Gloucester escape Moon's attention? He controls most of the nation's fishing industry.

A Chicago newspaper did a huge report on that a few years ago.

[TayTay]

7. They do control a lot of the fishing industry

And are major distributors of seafood products, particularly in the sushi industry.

This has very little to do with the decades long disputes over fishing catches and shares however. Fishing has been a occupation in Gloucester for over 4 centuries. (Europeans fished off the shores of Gloucester before the Mayflower came to New England.)

This dispute and the article that cites Sen. Kerry's support for Sec Lubechenko is actually pretty accurate. The fishermen fear that outside interests, in this case what they call Big Green and Big Business, are aligned against them. They fear both entities, which crosses Red and Blue and Liberal and Conservative lines. (The fishermen have a "pox on both your houses" view here.) They are neither Red nor Blue here. They fear that well-funded outside advocacy interests are crowding their interests out on purpose and in order to create "tradeable" commodities out of fishing licenses.

Read Me for a fascinating article on what the fishermen fear: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/archivesearch/local_story_319223717.html#disqus_thread">Paper shows Big Green's 'inside' push for catch shares

Read Me: EDF (Environmental Defense Fund) objection to Gaines: http://blogs.edf.org/edfish/2009/11/20/readers-in-gloucester-lose-with-mr-gaines/|Readers in Gloucester Lose with Mr. Gaines>

This is a microcosm of the eco-wars that are occurring all over the US. A local industry and large local employer feels that it is being unfairly targeted for environmental sins. They retaliate. We are going to see this over and over and over again over the next two decades as industries come to grips with energy and environmental change.

I am not surprised to see Sen. Kerry side with Sec Lubechenko. But I am not unsympathetic to the fishermen in Gloucester and elsewhere in the US. This is not an "us against them" struggle where we pick a righteous winner and declare the other side to be evil. This is the epitome of the gray area in dispute in much of the US today. The fears on both sides are legitimate.

But I have no idea what this has to do with the Moonies, even after tracking down the article you cited: http://www.rickross.com/reference/unif/unif275.html">Sushi and Rev. Moon. The local paper is decidedly libertarian in it's views. But, contained within this regional conflict are the seeds to understanding why Scott Brown won his Senate seat a month ago. We can learn from this.

[blm]

9. because the newspaper spins so consistently against Kerry according to the OP...and...

with fishing industry AND a newspaper slanted against Kerry at the base of the speculation, it's not hard to figure that it can plausibly...and easily...be tracked to Moon and his interests.

Moon didn't just pop up this past decade. He's been gaining that control over the US fishing industry steadily since the 60s, with a an enormous increase in control during the 80s.

[TayTay]

10. Agreed, but this problems is with the EDF and Big Business

it is not about press bias. The comment fields in the articles at the Gloucester Times are enormously informative in seeing what regular people think about this issue.

The Moonies may or may not be involved in local fishing. They do have a distribution business in Boston, but the main fishing concern, Gorton's Inc in Gloucester, is actually owned by a Japanese major firm. (Unilever used to own it, but sold a few years ago.)

I don't see what the Moonies have to do with a dispute over the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the National Oceanic and Weather Administration (NOAA), the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Commerce Department, controversial interpretations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1996, with additions, and Sen Kerry and Sec Lubchenko. I don't see the connection, with all due respect.

People are going to disagree with Sen. Kerry from time to time. That doesn't mean that those disagreements are all born of third party bad guys like the Moonies. These fishing disputes started decades ago, way before the Moonies ever took over anything in the US. They are classic clashes of natural interest groups that don't have good guys or bad guys at heart. They are disputes that will involve work and pain to resolve.

[karynnj]

11. The comments are really awful

It does sound like it was not a good idea for Kerry to use the word "friend" to describe her. I can see how that likely did seem adding insult to injury to the fishermen, but what Kerry proposed seemed to be the only logical steps. This might be a case where they feel that he did not acknowledge their pain and join their anger as much they would want.

But, this doesn't really explain why one of the more lucid people refers to Kerry as being "late to the game" after praising Brown for saying he needed to learn more - Kerry and three Congressmen already did ask for the prosecutions to end - while Brown did nothing.

The Boston Globe had the letter that Kerry, Frank, Tierny, and Delahunt sent on the 2/23 - the day before that rally. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2010/02/kerry_frank_and_others_urge_de_1.html

[TayTay]

13. There are problems of perception here

Problems like this are really hard to deal with because of the dug-in nature of the participants. The fishermen have been unfairly picked on. There was a recent ruling that Northeast fishermen were fined for rules infractions much more than other regions of the country. They feel like they are being made to bear an unfair burden.

The situation with Sen. Kerry is a "no-win" classic. The Senator is being accused of being inconsistent, in effect, by the fishing advocacy groups. That really does depend on how you look at it. The Senator is an avowed environmentalist and wants the fishing industry to adopt sustainable fishing practices. This has been his long-time position and he has not wavered from it. Sen. Kerry has also been a great advocate of the fishing industry in New England and a champion of the small businesses in that industry.

These two things are in conflict right now. Inconsistency is a matter of how you look at it. Would the Senator be inconsistent if he backed off his environmental stands, especially in light of his recent Senate battles on energy ("cap-and-trade") legislation. Would he not open himself up to charges that he expects sacrifice from coal-producing regions of the country in order to foster better sustainable energy goals and then won't ask for sacrifice in sustainable goals for a local industry? Or, is he inconsistent in asking the fishermen to sacrifice now when he has long been a staunch champion of their cause? What is the course of action here?

Brown is an innocent here. He is being given the benefit of the doubt until he actually does something. He will probably come down with the rest of the delegation and go for the fishermen's cause without the long-term look into severe sustainability issues. However, this raises problems for Brown who is a free-market conservative. Interference in the industry by the federal government is not something he would support, if he is indeed a free-market conservative. The market is going with those licenses and with tradeable commodities, so Brown might be tempted to go that way and let the market choose winners and losers. That would put him at odds with the groups who are now giving him a grace period in which to say something. The grace period will not last.

[karynnj]

14. It really is a no win situation

I would guess in this economy, though the need is even greater, the likelihood of the type of buyout that you mentioned happening when the same basic situation happened is very low.

On the rule infractions, assuming that it was not due to more rules being broken in the Northeast, that should be something that he can work on.

The parallel to carbon is interesting and really does show why both this and any carbon pricing will be very hard on people in the wrong industry at the wrong time. It does suggest that doing things to transition people in both these cases is needed and is the only fair thing to do.

[TayTay]

15. I agree with that assessment

The press in Cape cod, Fall River and Gloucester is going to be hard on Sen. Kerry for any changes he makes in fisheries management policy. But, all the other papers would be hard on him for being inconsistent if he abandoned his environmental principles for one specific industry.

Either way, this poses risks. His best bet is to stay on principle, but it will anger people. The press coverage is fair, in so far as we understand the underlying dilemma.

[blm]

12. Thanks for the Gorton's info.

I do understand the historic aspect, but, it's good to be alert about Moon's involvement as NOTHING he does is innocent. I can guarantee that 98% of the people in this country have no idea how much of the fishing industry he controls....heck...they aren't even aware of his media control.

[karynnj]

6. I remember years ago when you were watching the Fisheries hearings

I thought it interesting that Brown's idea of getting up to speed was only to speak to one of his former peers. This was, of course, something he could have done before the rally - so he would have some understanding before meeting with the fishermen. As a plan going forward, it is inadequate. He said nothing of speaking to the agency or to Senators on the fisheries committee, which as he still seems to have no committees - he could ask if he could be placed on.

But, I am still mad that your decidedly less interesting, completely junior Senator is gracing the cover of the NYT magazine. It used to actually require some level of serious achievement.

[TayTay]

8. The cover story is there because Brown is a novelty

Like a cow born with 6 legs or a two-headed dog. The thought that a Republican won the seat most recently held by Ted Kennedy makes him newsworthy. Brown will remain newsworthy until other elections produce other oddities the press can over-emphasize and misread, as they are currently misreading the Brown victory.

My admiration for Sen. Kerry actually has it's basis in the whole fishing industry controversy. Kerry came to Gloucester in the early 1990's and told the fishermen that they were in an unsustainable industry that was going to drastically change in coming years. The Senator addressed a gathering of fishermen and told them that half or more of them were not going to be fishing soon because it was unsustainable. That took guts to do. I admired the good Senator enormously for doing that and for facing these folks in person and answering their questions in person.

Sen. Kerry helped to secure federal buyouts of fishing boats. This involved getting federal funds to purchase excess boats and ease the transition of fishermen into other occupations. (The huge fleets are simply not sustainable.) Many fishermen, not all but many, took the buyouts for old boats and used the money to buy new boats. Sigh! This was a complete defeat for that plan. The fishing stocks are still over-fished, the problems were not addressed and there were still too many boats on the water.

The solutions today are much more drastic. Gloucester, and other fishing towns all over the east coast, closely watch the reports that come out of the government and "NGO's" like EDF and Pew Charitable Trusts. The fishermen deeply dispute the numbers, the solutions and the motives of the agencies behind these figures. There is a great deal of tension between those who fish for a living and the scientists and governmental and NGO people who research for a living. (There is economic and class tension here galore.)

[karynnj]

2. The weird thing is that the op-ed and the article both seem to be in today's paper

The op-ed shows Kerry leading the solution - which is clear even in the other article if you read the whole thing. The other article is very biased writing where the facts do not support the slant. There is way to much emphasis on the word "friend". It is clear that working with them might be the easiest way to remedy the situation - and the one who knows the administaration and precviously chaired the fisheries committee is Kerry.

This reminds me of when the BG had an article on Romney and Kennedy working on something - suggesting Kerry is the odd man out. (Whe of course he was far closer to Kennedy.

[Mass]

3. The editorial was on line a few days ago.

I am not sure why the publication date says today.

[karynnj]

16. It looks like the meeting they had, has led to some positive action

The federal oceans chief has announced reforms of how the nation’s fishermen are policed.

Last year, after persistent complaints by fishermen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco requested a federal review of the enforcement of fisheries laws.

That review found poor management of funds and a perception of arbitrary penalties. It also found Northeast fishermen were fined at double the rate of other regions.

Today, Lubchenco said all penalties against fishermen were now subject to "high level" review.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100318noaa_head_announces_reforms_of_fishery_enforcement/


AND

The nation’s top fisheries cop has been fired after a federal review detailed mismanagement at his agency and found that he ordered files destroyed during the review.

Sen. John Kerry’s office said today that Dale Jones has been replaced with Alan Risenhoover, an official in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries office.

<snip>
The federal review came after Northeast fishermen complained of unfair treatment. It found the appearance of arbitrary enforcement and couldn’t account for how fines collected from fishermen were spent.

Federal officials also said Jones ordered dozens of documents shredded after he was told about the review.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100408feds_top_fisheries_cop_fired_after_inquiry_spurred_by_northeast_fishermen/

A knowledgeable sounding poster said Dale Jones was a Bush appointee - but from the Gloucester Times article he has been with NOAA for 11 years.

It sounds like putting all of this together, Kerry did a good job calling the meeting and pushing for an investigation.

Here were comments from the Gloucester paper:

U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Congressmen John Tierney and Barney Frank, who had urged Lubchenco to fire Jones, reacted positively to the transition.

"Now we start over with Alan Risenhoover who has long been an advocate for our fishermen," Kerry said in a prepared statement this afternoon. "I again request a delay in active prosecutions on NOAA enforcement actions which may be tainted by the problems within the NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement. "

Tierney said, "Today's action by NOAA to appoint a new acting director for OLE is a step in the right direction."

<snip>
"While this not a cause for celebration, it is clearly an improvement," said Frank

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_098150840.html

[karynnj]

17. More follow up - on Kerry and others wanting more info on shredding documents

Here, the tide seems to have turned - one somewhat humerus comment:

"Has it gone too far to ever fix it? Lives have been destroyed, fish are plentiful and I'm starting to like senator Kerry."
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_100002704.html?keyword=topstory