As we reported last week, Sam Rauch is taking over as the "acting" head of the National Marine Fisheries Service.So who is Sam Rauch?
Well, he's currently the agency's deputy assistant administrator for regulatory programs. By training, he's a lawyer.
Rauch's bio indicates he previously supervised a NMFS legal team. And prior to joining the agency, he defended NMFS as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.
He has a law degree from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., a master's from the University of Georgia and a bachelor's from the University of Virginia.
Now, one might normally expect to see a biologist at the helm of NMFS, not a lawyer.
But I don't believe this is unprecedented. If memory serves, Terry Leitzell, who headed the agency from 1978 to 1981, was a lawyer.
Here's the list of folks who have headed NMFS. Deckboss doesn't know the backgrounds of all of them, but maybe you see more than one barrister in the bunch?
NMFS administrators, 1970 to present
Philip M. Roedel, 1970-1973
Robert W. Schoning, 1973-1977
Terry L. Leitzell, 1978-1981
William H. Stevenson (acting), 1981
William G. Gordon, 1981-1986
William E. Evans, 1987
James W. Brennan, 1988-1989
William W. Fox, 1989-1992
Nancy Foster (acting), 1993
Rolland A. Schmitten, 1993-1999
Penelope E. Dalton, 1999-2000
William T. Hogarth, 2000-2007
John Oliver (acting), 2008
James W. Balsiger (acting), 2008-2010
Eric Schwaab, February 2010 to present
I'm not surprised that Mr. Rauch is a lawyer. Dirty politics are drawn to the fisheries like a fly to stink because lots of money is being made in fisheries all over the world.
ReplyDeleteLike a fly to stink...
ReplyDeleteLewis and Clark's most famous Alumni.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/clinton/lewinskydress.html
Or a Republican version?
ReplyDeleteDeputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
Lewis and Clark College
“Sacajawea,” which was interpreted to mean “boat launcher."
As Captain Lewis wrote on January 6, 1806, “[T]he Indian woman was very impo[r]tunate to be permited to go, and was therefore indulged; she observed that she had traveled a long way with us to see the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be seen, she thought it very hard she could not be permitted to see either.”
Why did Wesley choose to close off the comments on December 26, 2011 post "A FINE SALMON SEASON FOR NORTON SOUND"?
ReplyDeleteAfter all, tt's probably the highliner post for comments and now Capt. Wesley has decided to bring that "harvest" to port (I didn't know he was captain!).
Hell, Wesley, a real Deckboss would understand it's cold and dark outside and we're not ready to quit fishin after you threw all that chum in the water!
Pulling the hooks out of the water (i.e., debate on Norton Sound), does seem an affront to the journalistic spirit.
So, I say Occupy Deckboss to reopen the Norton Sound sounding board, let the people speak, albeit some much more rational than others (but that's always the case).
Occupy Deckboss?
ReplyDeleteAre you saying it's time for an Eskimo Spring?
When it's springtime in Alaska it's forty below. Johnny Horton
Did you ever realize the slim line between lawyers and liars is an almost imperceptible pronounciation difference? That's all.
ReplyDeleteSome of the comments on the Norton Sound thread were getting borderline slanderous. I'm sure it made Wesley nervous. Posts were getting deleted before that too.
ReplyDeleteEverything was off topic anyway.
I would say that some of the comments were well into libelous territory. Unfortunately, the CDQ program is not the only thing that has failed to achieve its goals in Norton Sound. The educational program left far too many children behind who grew up without learning how civil discourse works. Consequently, you get the written equivalent of chimpanzees in the zoo shitting in their hands and throwing it. Unfortunately, discussions of Norton Sound fisheries issues always brings out the monkeys.
ReplyDeleteThanks Wes for providing a forum. Even with all the chimplike behavior, it is important to talk about what is happening with Norton Sound fisheries. Things have been pretty dismal for a very long time and despite all of the CDQ program, state and federal money that has been thrown at it, nothing seems to be working.
The reason why it all stinks is because until you start acting as though you are spending your very own money (that you worked hard to earn), you will not act resposibly, as in bottom line economics.
ReplyDeleteMake more than you spend.
Pie in the sky eventually falls down and makes a mess.
Start practicing sound business principles and maybe someday you will have something(s) that make long term sense.
That would require depopulating the villages along with all of the pain that would cause. I don't see that as a good thing for Alaska.
ReplyDeleteYea, but the real Monkeys from the zoo are elected!
ReplyDeleteDon Young and the FBI, all confused as usual.
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/01/10/10/15/dvohb.So.7.pdf
Back to Mr. Rauch... he has recently been Dr. Balsiger's boss, and we'd like to know who was guiding Jim's fish Council votes. Having met Rauch, it makes a person wonder if Jim was getting his information and guidance from elsewhere. The problem on the list is Dr. Leitzell, who went to work for Icicle Seafoods and had a direct hand in drafting the illegal plan to bust through crab caps at Adak, got caught redhanded, yet was never prosecuted and jailed for it -- in spite of the case resulting in the largest NOVA fine in NOAA history. I hope Mr. Rauch is one who is helping to put that case to rest for a full $3.44 million, but some serious attention needs to be redirected to Leitzell's illicit role.
ReplyDeleteGroundswell
Mr. Tauffen (or, as you like to call yopurself, "Groundswell"):
ReplyDeleteYou appear to be a one-trick pony, looking for "illicit" connections where they do not exist.
There is a substantial body of law about what can and cannot be done by former government employees. Just because someone worked for NMFS before does not mean that anything they subsequently do in the private sector is automatically suspect. You are quick to point to the 13th Amendment in other contexts (e.g., anti-processor share arguments); I would think that you would be sensitive to its application to former public servants.
Mr. Leitzell (Esq., not Dr.) was not involved in "drafting" the crab caps that were applicable to the Adak plant, and while in his role as Icicle's General Counsel he may have advised Icicle in its actions that you insist were illegal, the actions were Icicle's, not Mr. Leitzell's.
You appear to be insinuating that there is some impropriety that connects Mr. Leitzell's former public service and later private employment. Your insinuation is absurd. Mr. Leitzell was not the lone gunman on the grassy knoll.
Similarly, you have nothing but suggestion and innuendo to cast aspersion on Mr. Rauch and Dr. Balsiger. Your crackpot conspiracy theories are of no use to this forum.
I welcome any actual information you may be able to provide, but I suspect you have nothing but the ravings of a paranoid lunatic on offer. Or, you could just gather what marbles you (might) have left and go home.
Sincerely,
Not Groundswell
Uh-oh. Sounds like someone at Icicle is wound up tight.
ReplyDeleteSir, when you cast aspersions upon Stephen Taufen you insult the entire Groundswell movement. I take offense at your remarks.
ReplyDeleteGroundswell has been and always will be known for exposing the real truths behind the corrupt greedy world of the major fish thieves of the west coast.
ReplyDeleteThe only time Taufen is confronted is when the same tricksters do it on here. None of the name callers or major thieves have ever taken him to court...that speaks volumes right there. They couldn't shut the truth up...and know it.
There will be a day of reckoning for all the lying fish thieves, the price will be higher than they care to pay, but pay it they will.
ReplyDeleteI second that I too would like to know what drives Jim Balsiger's votes
ReplyDeleteon the NPFMC....
If your not suspicious of Mr.Rauch's
influence than you should be about
the influence " MRS. Balsiger" has .....
She's a paid lobbyist,that works for the BIGGEST Alaskan Processors.
If that doesn't raise red flags
and warrant an investigation then our
Fisheries are doomed.
I welcome Mr. Tauffen's Conspiracy
theories and think there is no better
Forum to voice them. As you can see I have some conspiracy theories of my own.
It keeps them on their toes
Stephen Taufen is a true patriot. He has worked diligently for years to shine a light on fisheries industry abuse in Alaska and internationally. Now he is working with fishermen on the East Coast to halt another resource theft by the big money kleptocracy.
ReplyDeleteOf course the crooks hate him, why wouldn't they?
Go Groundswell.
You know Mr. Taufen has done his job without fear, without financial assistance and without falter. He has been respectfully labeled by his enviable enemies of Japan who call him Tadashiki Nokoro. "THE HEART THAT SEEKS JUSTICE", whoa. The adversaries on this side aren't anywhere near that level of decency.
ReplyDelete"THE HEART THAT SEEKS JUSTICE"...sigh....good lord.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Mr. Taufen. He is trying to make the world better place for everyone. That's what WatchDogs do. Call the crooks for what they are - crooks with money crapping on the people in spite of all the rules and regulations our country has. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAlways interesting when someone labels what are primarily a set of facts and actual incidents as "conspiracy theories" -- as one immediately wonders what then to label the deliberate propaganda, direct lies, lies of omission and entitlement language of Groundswell's opponents. Also, the heart that seeks justice is a universal kami or spirit and can live within all humans, even though greatly set aside in many for the sake of greed etc. - so there are living persons imbued with the energy of Tadashiki no kokoro.
ReplyDeleteClarification: Mrs. Balsiger does not work for any of Alaska's largest seafood processors -- those would be the foreign-owned corporate cartel of Maruha-Nichiro, Marubeni, and NISSUI of Japan; and multinational Trident Seafoods of Seattle. She does lobby for the Pacific Seafood Group's Island Seafoods of Kodiak, and PSG is under an antitrust lawsuit currently, as a West Coast (non-Alaskan) monopolist/trust. She represents the Pribilof Island CDQ client and several other fishing interests, but not the biggies. Furthermore, the primary concern is any conflict of interest and need to recuse by her spouse, who holds a special government seat and is a voting member on the federal NPFMCouncil. Trust me, this situation is being reviewed by the agency and others, as both would admit.
Finally, one Anon misreads and concludes that Groundswell has cast apersions on Rauch and Balsiger: no to former, and only questioning where the Alaska NMFS director does get instructions from when they seem not to have come from Rauch. However, as the boss of NMFS Alaska, there are past matters where the buck must stop at that desk for wrongs done to NOAA OLE and Groundswell efforts re Adak. As to Leitzell, you misread again -- as we never said he wrote the crab caps plan, but that he had a role in the conspiracy (yes, a proper word for when two or more conspire to defraud others) of a plan to circumvent crab caps, that plan being highly evidenced. A compromise was made by a US AG in Anchorage not to prosecute multiple felonies re Adak actions, and that AG was later made a federal magistrate under Ted Stevens' reign. The NOVA fine was substituted as partial justice, and crooks were set free. This should be of grave concern to all fishermen who have to sell to such buyers as Adak Seafoods at the time. Please read more carefully.
BTW, with Groundswell generated Treasury Dept. wins, the Antitrust Division stopping market power growth in salmon merger(s), the largest NOVA fine in NOAA history about to conclude (get paid), and other successes, we're curious about the courageless Anon's meaning of the word "crackpot". As always, your opinion of us is none of our damned business, especially when it has no basis in fact... or when you are just being a quisling for your processor or own self-interests, is it? It would be like us saying you are Anonymously hiding under your momma's skirt like a scared little boy sucking his thumb, right? On occasion your namecalling is humorous, but alas, it provides no facts nor logic of dispute.
See the Q: which fish crook does like Groundswell's efforts?
Happy New Year!
What other NPFMC Members are lobbyists
ReplyDeleteor have ties to lobbyists ??
And Who do they represent ??
How is this legally possible ??
I'd like to hear more.
Does anybody else here remember when Taufen testified before the NPFMC dressed in traditional Japanese clothing?
ReplyDeleteI've heard some of the Maruha people calling him "Watashi Hasono Otoko Wo Kirau" which roughly translates to "I hate that guy".
He slices and dices 'em like the reincarnation of Musashi Myamoto.
Taufen is a fag and Groundswell is a hoax.
ReplyDeleteMrs Balsiger has never worked for a Japanese company. Taufen has. They fired his sorry butt. That's why he's on here.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, until the President of Maribeni posted last month, Taufen is the only one who's ever posted on here who has worked for a Japanese company. Watch out for Godzilla, Taufen-san.
ReplyDeleteOct. 2001 NPFMC Public comment, to Chairman Dave Benton and council members, & to Commerce Secretary:
ReplyDeleteThe [movement’s] energy emanates from us – but is not of us. It is from the spirit of “The Heart That Seeks Justice” ...
Groundswell no campaign ga takamatte iru noha. Shyousuu no nihan suisan kigyou no nakani imamo nao “Aku” [EVIL] ga ikitsuzukete iru kara desu.
Groundswell no enaji [Energy] ha watashitachi kara hiromatte imasu. Shikasi, sono enaji ha watashitachi no mono deha arimasen. Sore ha “Tadashiki no kokoro” kara umareru nodesu.
Niho seifu to jichitai ha, kono keizai kiki wo tomeru toiu ookina sokinin ga ari masu. Groundswell ha kono ooyake no sekinin wo nihon seifu to jichitai ni tadachi ni mattou shite itadakeru you onegai shimasu. Arigato.
Groundswell Fisheries Movement
That's at least three Japanese and Korean companies; and it was "hired, conspired, and wrongfully fired" - and my first of several whistleblowing cases recovered over $1.562 million for the US Treasury plus landed me an out-of-court settlement. Maruha sees business as war, and it is most likely not hatred but respect for intelligent opposition that they hold. It's just a game to them, of stealing billions and using a few millions to get off the hook for it and to attempt to silence formidable businessmen who choose to obey US laws. Holy freakin alien genotypes, Batman -- let's get this blog thread back on message.
ReplyDeleteGroundswell
Yeah. And that message was?OH yeah, the new NMFS administator. And then Taufen, the Japanese and Korean slave and warmonger, brought his BS into the thread.Maybe Taufen-san can convince Mr. Rauch to go to world court on behalf of Alaska's beleaguered commercial fishermen in order to seek the trillions stole by those nasty Japanese. At least Taufen=san has Trident, OBSI and Icicle to fall back on. He must like them since they are not Japanese. Sinophobe as well as homo, Taufen-san.
ReplyDeleteSTILL living in that basement in Kodiak on that SETTLEMENT that Taufen-san took from the commercial fishermen of Alaska, who obviously paid the thing, as you can imagine the Nipponese must have charged them in order to pay Taufen0san. Just like another crooked blackmailer from the 1800's, jailed by our good friend Daniel Webster.
ReplyDeleteTaufen is a blackmailer and a crook. Follow him at your peril. That settlement, if it was legal, was the last legal thing, or real thing, that Taufen-san ever did.
He was wrong on Stevens, overturned. Ben, still free. What did Taufen-san say or do in the last decade that ever came to pass.
Follow him at your own peril? What would happen if I did? I own a seafood business.
ReplyDeleteJan 16 12:10 Anon - how's the weather in SE? - your ad hominem is a superb demonstration of idiocy and slander. Blackmailing is demanding money in return for not revealing compromising information and a criminal offense = rather the opposite of whistleblowing. Falsely accusing someone of an actual crime is illegal, libelous - and your clue should be that were there blackmail, the judge would have spotted it in discovery.
ReplyDeleteBut what most illuminates your idiocy is the idea that I extorted funds from fishermen -- ahem, that would be NISSUI who deducted its costs from you = making you pay for their illicit activity. Worse yet, you fail to join in the Groundswell movement to recover the greater billions stolen from fishermen and the US economy.
Ben may still be free - but we can't be responsible for flawed statutes of limitation - and he is not 'free'. Ahem, Ted went down exactly as I predicted - the Al Capone approach - and larger crimes were left unprosecuted of which he was still criminally responsible. Ask Trident for the real truth on who got their OB merger stopped. Again, a $3.44 million fine is not to be sneezed at either. Nondisclosure agreements and common sense mean you have no right to know of many other successes.
End your bromance with Bobby T and shake the sand out of your ears and spit out the excrement you've been fed, and start thinking for yourself. Next time, post some more than another ad hominem.
Nothing else we can say will do more to effectively reveal your moral and mental deficiencies than your own typing... which wasn't too bad for a quisling who can't seem to understand his own bosses are the shakedown artists. But damned right, you ought to have to pay - to pay a national fish price for the taking of a public commonwealth resource, if for no other reason than to learn to respect its true 'un-rationalized' value.
Last post on this thread, game over, so have at it fool.
Groundswell
Yes, "skake the sand out of your ears and spit out the excrement you've been fed and start thinking for yourself."
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great line Groundswell.
IT was Groundswell who started kicking shit over at past NMFS administrators. WE hear Fuglvog is going to work for Groundswell. WITH their big roll of blackmailed dollars that Taufen Stole fromAlaskanfishermen.
ReplyDeleteYES that's right. Taufen has been living like a King IN the Dochtermann basement off of fishermen's money that the 3 Japanese and Korean companies that Tuafon worked for.
Word in the street is that Taufen also was fired for embezzling fishermans money while working for the Japanese and Koreans
Fuglvog working for Groundswell.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea.Do the right thing
and make amends with the have not's
of the fishing industry. correcting the illegal actions he knows took place.
All while being paid to tell the truth.
I'd take back every bad word I ever said about him.
He's writing an autobiography in prison now, "From Nymphomaniac, to NMFSomaniac" Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteSigned, BT
Some mentally-affected slimer posted the false statement, ".. fired for embezzling fishermans money .."
ReplyDeleteLoy knows this is slander. A self-respecting webmaster would take down that post.
The way purportedly independent fishermen will rabidly endeavor to undermine and destroy those who support individual freedom, the back bone of our nation,and the only hope for future prosperity, is Orwellian in scope.
ReplyDeleteAre they such kidnapped hostages to runaway corporatist rationalization regimes propoganda that as a class of people they are showing symptoms of "Stockholm Syndrome?" Identifying with their tormentor as a survival mechanism subconsciously, in mass?
On the count of 3 you will be awakened. One....Two....
The truth spoiled Petersburg's party. Seiners wanted the taxpayer fairy and yanked own teeth out.
ReplyDeleteNOAA rejects their shell game.
Liberty to steal from government came at a high price.
Nothing left but to hate blog.
Maybe bobby t can work for a CDQ next season. Or at Adak in order to really qualify for a PFD check.
& three.
Are you kidding? Bobby T is not nearly crooked enough to work for a CDQ. There are some things even Bobby T won't do.
ReplyDeleteHe's lobbied for CDQ groups. I guess
ReplyDeletethat's called charitable gaming.It's all a game.
BobbyT works for the garbage company in Juneau. Saw it in APOC.
ReplyDeleteAlaska Bering Sea Crabbers-Alaska Scallop Association-Sitka Herring Group-Southeast Alaska Seiners-Armstrong-Keta-Alaska Pacific Environmental Services(that's the garbage co.)-it says in 2008 he worked for Coastal Villages.
"...not nearly crooked enough to work for a CDQ."
ReplyDeleteCDQ crooks robbing the people in broad daylight.
He is on that committee to "Bring Alaska Foreward". Bunch of ANCSA poverty pimps and the UAF Prez. Bob T
ReplyDeletewas listed at the bottom of the page without affiliation. Committee to move AK into BT Bone's bank account.
Just like a seine ratz.
Whatever else you might say about Bobby the T, a tleast he's not working for a CDQ. He has some scruples.
ReplyDeleteHe lobbied for one in 2008.my guess is the relationship didn't last because they found someone more effective?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, maybe they found someone with fewer scruples.
ReplyDeleteYeah, kind of like "Dumb & Dumber".
ReplyDelete"Few & Fewer". Unscrupulous actors are dealing with negative sums of character quotient. But if even a rumor of CDQ association is frightening, then something must really be going on.FEEL IT?