No requirements for NOAA director

[scbaseth]

And people wonder why NMFS has had such a poor track record...

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/fishi...#disqus_thread

Then again, advanced degrees don't seem to be doing much good for many people in the agency.

[On The Edge]

Somehow I dont see a long list of people standing in line for the opertunity to work for her. Educated or not.

[scbaseth]

I don' know, 119,544 to 179,000$ a year is an awful lot of incentive for someone who is unemployed and has experience but no degree. I'd take the job in a heartbeat, I'd probably get fired for the overuse of reasonable judgment haha, but its a lot easier to make a difference from the inside.

I don't mean to offend anyone by this. I don't have a college degree (yet), and many of the smartest guys I know don't have degrees, but I think it says a lot about how our fisheries are managed. A little while ago the previous director was reassigned because when he was scrutinized for excessive fines, misuse of funds, and abuse enforcement he shredded up 75-80% of his files (not fired, just reassigned to another position with a 6 fig salary). It's sickening that this is the agency responsible for the resources that many of us make a living off of.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topst...accountability

Richard Gaines is bringing transparency to a lot of these issues, but they need more coverage. Its insane how NOAA and NMFS operate sometimes.